Wait and Listen
by HLCrimsonIris
Summary: Wherever this place is Toph knew that the place is far from familiar. After getting some help from Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, she decides to help watch over some four-eyed lily pad. Though babysitting is far from her thing, she will find that there will be more lilies to keep company.
1. The Old Man

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

There were many things that Toph Beifong didn't understand or know of anything that's outside of earthbending, but she never really cared. After all, if it doesn't concern the earth then it doesn't concern her. However, certain mysteries concern her and questions blasted inside her head like fireworks on this day. So much has happened in these ten minutes. After waking up in the middle of some forest, the earthbender tried to figure out her location. Everything felt foreign-wherever it is. There were weird animals crawling up trees and she sensed a different feel of the land that surrounds her. Her mind was fuzzy as how she even got here. One question obviously needs to be answered first before that one though; Where in the world is she? She could obviously "see" that wherever she is, it isn't even close to home. Toph knew she is probably near some kind of town, but the structures of the buildings feel different than the ones she had felt throughout her journey. Another oddity was that the earthbender felt people appearing in one place and then reappearing in another inside the town. None of this was right. How was that even possible?

Well then, she thought. Nothing can be done if I stay put. Toph started walking towards the weird town. She could feel some head turns as she walked through it. The earthbender ignored these people and kept going. There was no point in wasting her energy on something other than finding answers and (hopefully) getting home. She entered into one of the shops and walked towards the man at the front register. "Hey, can you tell me where I am? I'm new here." The man responded in some other language. _I have no idea what you are saying._ Toph sighed. The man spoke some more until she cut him off and shook her head as if signally that speaking was getting neither of them anywhere. Great. How is she supposed to get any help if she can't understand a word they're saying?

The young bender was about to walk out of the store before she dodged the opening door in front of her. She hated how the front part of the store was made of wood. It was good thing that the floor of the store was made of some kind of stone, but it was still annoying. She made her way out of the store and started to walk out of this foreign and strange town. The longer she thought of how foreign this place was, the more uneasy she felt. Even if she was in a different land, whether it be in the fire nation or in the middle of the dessert there is a common language. The only other "language" Toph understood was the one the badgermoles used. The earthbender scowled at herself. There is no reason for her to feel uneasy. The Blind Bandit is an earthbending prodigy afterall. There is no way she can feel this uneasy.

Someone called out. Toph couldn't tell who it was for, so she continued forward. It was the man who nearly opened the door right in her face and he is now walking faster and towards her. She stopped, "What do you want, old man?" _Like you can understand me._ The man said some more words as he seemed to be reaching out for something. The man walked in front of her and extended out a hand. Toph raised an eyebrow as her hand reached out to the palm in front of her. There was a piece of jewelry-a bracelet that he was holding. The old man then pointed his wrist as if telling her to put it on. Still suspicious of the man's actions, she slowly put the bracelet on her wrist that didn't have her meteor bracelet.

"Do you understand me now?" the old man asked.

Toph's eyes widened. "Woah. Someone who doesn't speak gibberish."

The old man chuckled. "No my dear, I am not speaking in your language. In fact, it is you who is speaking English. That bracelet that I gave you has a charm on it that gives the wearer the ability to understand English. Of course the spell needs to be renewed every month, but other then that you should be able to get by."

The old man was giving off some weird vibes. She doesn't know if it's because of how high her guard is up all the time, but the old man's kindness is very suspicious in her mind.

"My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts-"

"Hogs-what and no offense, but that name is too much of a mouthful for me," she said bluntly. She crossed her arms. "Why are you helping me? What is your aim, old man?" Her questions sounded more like commands. She won't accept half-hearted answers and she won't get proper ones unless she asks directly. "Also, what charm?"

"I only helped you because you seemed to be be lost. You don't speak or understand the language, so it would do you no good. Besides, I can tell from your clothes that you can't be from anywhere here. Perhaps from another world?" Toph stayed silent, but her guard remained up. _The man knows something._ "You can call me Professor Dumbledore as to make it easier for you. As I said before, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am a wizard who is able to perform magic, such as placing a certain translation charm that allows someone to understand, speak, and write a certain language as if it was their native one. I may not know your situation, but I can help you. You may decline my offer and keep the bracelet. That is your choice."

Toph thought for a moment and then sighed. "It looks like there aren't any other options left for me, are there? Fine. I'll allow you to help me, but I have a feeling that you looking for something in exchange, wizard."

The old man named Dumbledore stayed silent and as if in deep thought. "I suppose that will depend on what you can offer me. I won't lie that there is a job I would like you to do, but let us continue this conversation somewhere else. Now if you don't mind, please hold my hand. We will be apparating near a guarded and safe place. I must inform you that apparating gives wizards the ability to teleport to one place to another..."

"Wait what?"

"Don't worry, it will just be short trip. Now on the count of three..."

"Stop it!"

"One...two…"

"OLD MAN!"

"Three."

* * *

The young girl's taste of her first apparition was terrifying. It was almost like being surrounded by water-almost. After cursing about the apparition, she focussed her attention on the the long line of houses in front of her. Where in the world did this old guy take her? "I apologize for not warning you of the effects earlier, but don't worry you'll get used to it," he said. She could _sense_ a smile on the old man's face. "There are people who are expecting me and it would be safer to discuss an exchange in there rather than in the middle of Hogsmeade. There should only be a few people in there for now, so there is nothing you need to worry about. Now let's get inside before…"

"Sorry to interrupt and all, but I can't get inside that place if I don't know its flooring. I should tell you that I can't see if the floors are made up of anything that is not made out of metal, rock, or stone," she informed the elder man. "Thought I should tell you now before you regret asking for anything in return."

"I see…" was all the man said. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem right now. There are areas that have carpeting and wood, but there should be places where the floors are made up of stone. Hold onto my robes that I'm wearing when we get inside and you can tell me more about yourself when we are able to."

Toph grinned. _He's smart to hire someone as strong as me._ She gave him a nod and made her way inside the house behind Dumbledore. As soon as they entered, Toph breathed out a sigh of relief. The first thing she felt from this house is stone. The girl didn't want to be seen tugging on the elder man's clothing for it made her feel weak and dependent. (Even if her blindness can't be helped). She then heard a few people coming towards them-probably going to greet Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, you are finally here," said one man.

"How was it?" said another.

"It went well, but before we discuss any further I would like to introduce you to an acquaintance that's willing to help the Order." _Help the_ what _?_ He stepped aside so that she could be visible. The girl could only imagine the wide eyes the men had for seeing a girl of around fifteen. She sighed. She didn't give her name yet to Dumbledore, did she?

"Toph Beifong," she said. There wasn't much to say than giving her name.

"It's nice to meet you Toph," said the second man's voice. "My name is Remus Lupin. The man beside me is Sirius Black."

She nodded.

"Now Sirius, can you lead us to a room that has stone flooring? There is something I need to discuss with the guest and Miss Beifong feels safer when she is surrounded by stone," Dumbledore explained with a sprinkle of a lie on top.

"Of course. I'll lead you to it right away." The first man, Sirius led the Headmaster and Toph (who had no choice but to tug on his robes) to a room in which she could "see." Of course the man didn't know of this...yet. Still, it was a relief for the young earthbender to finally touch and feel the stone against her bare feet. It's cool surface gave her some peace of mind. The room that they entered was fairly small, but she didn't mind. As long as earth is present in this room, then the size of the room matters not for her.

"Thank you Sirius. I'll meet with you and Remus later." _Another way of saying, 'the is a private conversation not involving you,'_ thought Toph. She could sense the man's hesitation before he left the room. The old man made a gesture towards a couch near the middle of the room. The earthbender took her seat and made herself comfortable by spreading her legs out and arms relaxed. Dumbledore also found himself a seat to settle in. "Now, let us begin discussing. Since you will be staying with me and perhaps others of the organization I'm in, will you explain your situation to me?"

Toph shrugged. "Sure. From the minutes I've observed you, I know you have some lies in between some truths, but that doesn't mean that you don't plan on helping me. It's pretty farfetched and all, but I am from another place far from this world. I have never heard of the English language, magic, wizards, witches, or anything else of this place. Basically, I think everyone here is pretty weird. Even the animals I have encountered before I entered Hogsmeade were as strange as the Earth Kingdom's pet bear. I don't know exactly how I got here, my memory is still a bit of a mess around that area. I need a place to stay and I need help getting back home." She didn't notice her straightened posture and hands in the air as she told everything to the old man.

"I see...you are a bender, right?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah...how is it that you know about benders?" She was not expecting the old man to know anything about her or bending at all until he thought that she might be from some other world. _Who is this Dumbledore guy anyway?_

"A long time ago I met a bender of fire named Kuzon. He was a couple years older than you are when he came. I know about the four nations and how there are benders and non-benders. I also know that the fire nation wiped out the air nomads and that the Avatar, apparently one of Kuzon's good friends was one of them. War broke because of the fire nation. He seemed quite stressed when he appeared before me," his voice trailed as he thought of the past.

"Hm...most of that information is accurate," Toph said. "Except how the fire nation wiped out _all_ of the airbenders. He didn't get the Avatar. I would also like to add that the war just ended a few years ago and it lasted for a century. The fire nation loss as the Avatar was able to kick the Fire Lord's ass."

"Oh?" Interest rang in his voice. "Mind enlightening me?"

Toph nodded. There shouldn't be any harm if this man already knows about her world, and if there is harm she could knock him dead in no time. Toph went to explain how the Avatar, the last of the airbenders was able to survive for a century. She told of how he needed to master the rest of the elements: water, earth, and fire in about a year in order to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. She told him of how he met his teachers and showed some pride when Toph said that she was his earthbending teacher. His firebending teacher ended up being the very guy who wanted to capture him the very moment the Avatar broke from the ice and who was the son of the Fire Lord. She went on to tell about all of her friends' adventures and battles along the way.

Somewhere towards the end, Toph could feel her stomach tighten as she thought of her dear friends. The friends that appeared out of nowhere three years ago and gave her the chance to be free from her cage. It was thanks to them that she was able to not only explore, but to also fight and learn of how good it felt to teach someone the art of earthbending. She missed them very much and thinking about it made her feel homesick.

"It seems that you had quite the adventure traveling with the Avatar," he said. "I will help you get back home as it is one of my greatest regrets to not give that chance to Kuzon. He died saving the lives of people-from an evil man who continues to plan til this very day."

"Does this have anything to do with the exchange?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I thought that you might be a bender so I thought that maybe you could enroll into Hogwarts and keep an eye on who Voldemort's target, Harry Potter." The Headmaster went further into explaining who Harry Potter is and his past with Voldemort. He also went on in explaining the wizarding world and magic. The young earthbender only listened in before the old man was finished explaining.

"So you want me to babysit some kid with a scar because some Ozai-wannabe wants to kill him since he was the only one who survived his killing curse-thing? Did I get that right?"

"Most of it." He went into further explanation by adding, "I just want you to give me reports on him and making sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Protect him without anyone knowing. I don't want you to die before you go back home."

"Thanks old man, but I do believe that I can keep myself alive. As an earthbender, I when a situation calls for it I will stand my ground when it's needed. Emphasis on needed. Other than that I'll try to watch other the troublesome kid.

"But I would like to tell you that though I am completely blind in both eyes if you hadn't noticed already. The only way I am able to see is through earthbending which is why I can't walk on anything not made up of stone, rock, metal, or anything that doesn't have an ounce of the earth. Learning material is a pain in itself, but for someone like me who _can't see_ there is no way I will be able to go through even a day in your classrooms." There was no way she can even last a day!

"That is quite a problem...how good are your memorization skills?" asked the Headmaster.

Toph thought for a moment. "My body can memorize almost anything and I suppose I remember most of the things I hear. Understanding anything related to chemicals and all that is not my thing. Too much thinking takes too much of my time and energy." _That would be Sokka's if he were here…_

"If that were to be the case then you can only do so much in certain classes...," he said. "Your tests and exams will be different from the other students. Instead of writing down your answers on parchment, you will be tested separately and verbally. You should be able to do the actual demonstration of the spells. However when it comes to classes in which your vision is important such as potions, you will have to be excluded in that portion.

"This means that you will be able to take most of the core classes, but being tested in a different format. You can also take electives, but for you specifically it isn't required. If you want to take one, the only one I can think of that would work for you situation would be Care of Magical Creatures."

"Magical creatures?" Toph was interested.

"Examples are Thestrals, dragons-"

"I'll take that one. I don't know why, but those things sound pretty awesome to me."

"Then it should be settled. I'll ask some of the staff to help you catch this summer. It's going to be very hard on you, and I much apologize all of it."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm fine with it and I can handle it." _Even if the kid appears to be some hair pulling material._

* * *

Author's Note:

I never thought I would actually write a crossover, but I am now! I must admit that I'm having a difficult time writing Toph, but it's all a working progress. The set up as the "Bodyguard" is cliche. I know. However the role Toph has isn't the bodyguard, but something else. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy.


	2. Recognition

Disclaimer: I do not own "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

After the meeting between the wizard and earthbender, it was decided that only a selective few will know about Toph's origins and true power. It was also decided that she will not make herself known to anyone outside the group of individuals until she attends Hogwarts. This meant that only Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Minerva Mcgonagall, Tonks, Alastor Moody, and Severus Snape will know of her affiliation to the Order and who she really is. Toph will continue to stay inside 12 Grimmauld Place, but she will be hidden away from most of the members. That didn't bother the earthbender since she would rather sleep and watch what's going on. She needed some rest and time of her own.

The meeting between her and the selected members caused a bit of commotion. The adults (except for Dumbledore of course) argued that the girl was too young to be heavily involved within the Order. It took them by surprise of the concept of there being another world separated from their own and that Dumbledore had prior knowledge of the place. They didn't have too much of a problem with the girl being housed by them (maybe all except Moody), but for her to be a member of the Order was too much. Even after showing them some simple manipulation with her meteor bracelet, they still couldn't accept the girl into their ranks. Revealing that she was in fact blind made it even worse.

"How can she help us if she is blind? This isn't the place for her!" cried Snape.

"For once I agree with Snivellus," Snape scowled at him when he heard that name. "Dumbledore, we know you are good and all, but to involve the young lady who is _blind_ -it wouldn't end well at all!"

The earthbender sighed. "Had it ever occurred to any of you that I am able to walk around this place without bumping into anything?" The adults quieted down. They did find it hard to believe at first that the girl was blind. "I _see_ through earthbending. All of you, that book on the ground, _and_ the five children Weasley children downstairs."

There was a sudden wind of silence in the room. The information and a bit of their recognition slowly sank in. It was then disturb when the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts spoke.

"How is that possible?" questioned Mcgonagall. "How can you use earthbending to see?"

"Another thing you should notice is that you will always see me barefoot _all the time_. Literally. I use earthbending to feel the vibrations of the earth and detect what is around me," she explained. "You can say that I am seeing with my feet."

Moody groaned. "i still find this all fishy and hard to believe. You aren't on the dark side are you?" Toph could feel the old man's breath right in front of her. She shoved his face away and told him to stop being so creepy.

"Still...you are still young to be involved within the Order's meetings. You're fifteen, right? That's the same age as Harry." The auror named Tonks was obviously worried about the young girl.

"Like I explained in the beginning. She has already fought in a war from her world. In fact, if it weren't for her, the war would have been lost to the fire nation. She was the earthbending teacher to the Avatar," said Dumbledore trying to reassure them. "I know she is young and seems defenseless at first, but she has demonstrated some of her skills as a fighter to me and I can tell you that I was very impressed. Of course some of it would be due to me never meeting an earthbender before, but the piece of earthbending she demonstrated in the beginning is most likely not even considered a fraction of her real skills in battle.

"Another benefit to having her would be to report anything surrounding Harry, Miss Granger, and Ron Weasley. She is able to protect from behind and within the shadows if she is able to befriend him or the others."

"I will not argue with the supervision," spoke Lupin. "However I am still uneasy about all of this as do all of us in here are." A line of heads nodded.

"Don't worry yourself too much," said Toph. "This is an exchange. I can't slack off too much if I don't want to get back home, but if this is about me being capable I will have you all folks know that I was known as the Blind Bandit in my Earth Rumble days. Beat all the grown men down like it was nothing."

"Sounds to us you are just trying to gloat," muttered Snape.

"Heard that," she said. Her tone then changed into something that sounded stern and more reliable than her earlier words. "I don't care if you continue to look at me as something to take pity on or waste your time worrying. Go ahead. However, when the day comes where I am needed, _trust me._ I am able to do so much with earthbending and I am really good at what I do. Let me prove to all of you that I am not some weak little girl that needs constant protection. Let me prove to all of you my worth because I swear upon my life as an earthbender that you won't be disappointed."

This was just like before with her parents. They still can't see her true abilities as a fighter or her real self...yet. She wasn't going to let a bunch of wizards look down on her and have an imagine of her being some weakling.

"Does anyone have any objections to letting her stay?" asked Dumbledore. Surprisingly, no one raised their hand. The earthbender thought it was only so that they could observe her further. "Alright, then let us discuss what is needed for some of you in order for Miss Beifong to succeed in her role."

The current professor at Hogwarts, Remus Lupin, and Tonks were in charge with helping the earthbender catch up with the rest of the other students of her year. She was going to have to visit Diagon Alley to get the necessary supplies such as books, a wand, and other things she will need to help her. She asked Dumbledore why in the world she needed books of all things, he explained to her that it was for them to read aloud. He also added that if she excelled in charms or maybe potions somehow, she might find a way to get her to "read." McGonagall is in charge of her studies in Transfiguration, Snape with Potions, Lupin with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Tonks will be in charge with Charms. Herbology would mainly be with Tonks as well, but when she is working as an auror one of the other instructors will take her place. The rest of the classes will be taught by all of them in different times.

The day after that, she went with Snape to get her supplies. She found the man to be stiff and thought he needed to loosen up. All of her attempts to start a conversation always led to him shutting them down. The earthbender could only sigh internally. After getting her books for the first five years, other supplies, and robes Toph went to get her wand. Ollivander was surprised to find a student needing a wand so very early before the start of school, but was happy nonetheless.

It was quite difficult finding her a wand that suited her and the wandmaker was having fun with the challenge while the young earthbender thought this was getting old. She did enjoy the explosions she made, but after a while all she wanted was a wand. After going through a few more wands, Toph sighed and said. "You know, why don't you just let me try that one over there?" She point to a box on a high shelf behind her without facing it.

"Well, if that's what you wish," Mr. Ollivander went up to get the box and handed it to her. The end result was another large explosion.

The wandmaker went over to the far back of his stacks of wands until he finally came back running with another box. "Cherry and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Let's see if this one will do the trick."

Toph sighed and hoped doubted it would be the one _._ She held the wand with her right hand and gave it a good flick while preparing for another explosion. Surprisingly instead of another explosion she only heard the sounds of the sparks of green and gold fireworks that danced from the wand's tip. The earthbender was relieved for not only was it finally over, the wand itself felt right at home with her right hand.

"Hm...how interesting," he said to himself. "Curious indeed."

"Sure?"

"Hm…" Mr. Ollivander was deep in thought. "That will be eleven galleons."

Snape gave him the money and the pair went outside. "That took up some time," said Toph.

Snape only nodded. "We will be apparating so hold onto me." The earthbender groaned. The old man must have lied to her. There was no way she was getting used to not knowing where she was going. It was all too weird. They arrived back at 12 Grimmauld Place and made sure Toph wasn't spotted by anyone. She and Snape headed up to the meeting room from the other day. She started her Potions lessons first and next will be Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Astronomy, and everything else. The schedule was complete hell and she made sure all the adults knew of it.

It was hard enough Toph couldn't actually _read_ what's on the books, but listening to the adults who were reading the book to her was extremely boring. Her memory may be pretty good, but her attention span was another story. The only times she would actually stay fully awake were when applies her knowledge (that she remembers). Defence, Herbology and Charms were her strongest classes. This was especially true for Defence and Herbology. Defence Against the Dark Arts was similar to earthbending in the defence aspect. It gave her another way of fighting even if she found it a bit difficult to use the wand at first. Herbology was something that came to her more naturally compared to DADA. This may be because of how in tune she is with the earth and its surroundings. She can sense and feel the plants and its possible needs through earthbending. The adults were quite impressed with her in those two classes.

Her skills in charms improved through continuous practice that she forced herself on since it might help her in defending herself and an actual battle. The adults made sure she wasn't slacking off as Toph found it less interesting than actually plummeting someone to the ground. Transfiguration was rigorous for her at first. She only got better at Transfiguration after studying so much from the strict McGonagall and finding it somewhat similar to earthbending. The elder woman was right when saying that one needed decisiveness and a bit of creativity. She got the decisiveness part down easy. Her creativity slowly caught up after a while. McGonagall knows that her talent for the subject is almost nonexistent, but she acknowledges that she is getting better a step at a time. One step at a time meant several all-nighters.

The only subject that made her groan even more than Transfiguration was Potions. It was almost impossible to actually study without Snape which frustrated both her and her teacher. She obviously can't _make_ a potion, but she was expected to memorize the instructions of a variety of potions and their properties. Toph is unable to pick out her own mistakes without the help of Snape or another available teacher. It was pure agony to be called boring. Her head always blows up every time Snape came. She could tell that the older man was getting impatient and a frustrated with the earthbender. This led to some arguments between them, but at least they manage to finish the lesson at a very late hour.

One day Snape came one evening quite tired. He was stricter and colder than usual. When the earthbender was having trouble with memorizing a potion, he finally snapped. "How am supposed to teach you potions if all you can do is _try_ to memorize them and not apply your knowledge when you are _blind_?" Snape was now pinching the bridge of his nose and gritting his teeth.

"Hey, quit taking your anger out on me!" Toph snapped. "It's not my fault I'm blind or that I find this all boring! In fact, I wholeheartedly agree with you. What's the use in learning all this if I can't even make a single one of those potions? This is just stupid!" She pointed her third year potions book. She got this far because all she had to do was memorize and it was all a pain to do.

"I don't know what the Headmaster thinks you should learn this subject," he said. "It is absolutely useless."

Toph couldn't agree with Snape any more than this. She sighs. There were several times the earthbender tried to convince the Headmaster to not have her learn Potions, but she was flat out rejected every single time. "Is there another way you could teach Potions?"

"What are you going on…" The young earthbender cut him off before her could finish his sentence.

"What I mean is that is there another thing on potions I could do that will apply some of the junk I learned?" She could feel her teacher's head jerk when she said _junk._ "Making potions is out of the question, but maybe distinguishing the different types of potions using my earthbending. As long as the potion has remnants of the earth, rock, stone, or metal then I would be able to know through touching the liquid or bottle what potion it is. That way I can tell which one is used as poison and which one is for healing."

Silence filled the room and it stayed there for quite a while before Snape grabbed one of his own books and started flipping its pages. He then got out some ingredients and his caudron out and started making the potion. Toph just stood still, not knowing what to do. It was when he finished his first potion and started on another that the earthbender started to get an idea of what the potions professor was doing. _He's going to test me,_ she thought. Her eyes widened at the sudden realization. "Woah are you actually taking some of my advice? Shocker." It really was and the thought made her lips form a grin. This was grand.

When he finished the potions and placed it into two identical vials, and held them in both hands. "You can identify a potion by the amount of earth or metal is in it correct?"

"That's right."

"Then you should know that poisons are the only types of potions that contain at least some percentage of metal," said Snape. "If you manage to identify which of the vials contains the poison and which one contains the cure...I'll talk to the Headmaster about changing your curriculum."

Toph nodded. She opened her right palm and extended her arm. Snape gave her the first vial. She tapped on the vial a couple of times in order to use her seismic sense. The earthbender kept silent and asked for the second vial. After several taps from the other bottle and several from the second, she found her answer. "Both of them are poisons," she answered. She gave him a smirk. "Nice try, but I could tell that the first one had metal, though I have to admit it took a few more taps to find it."

"I did make the first one a light poison. It's nothing that is life-threatening, but it does weaken the body a bit at a time," he admitted. "I must say that though your inability to make potions was a handful, I will admit that I am glad that all the things I taught you won't go to waste. Your ability to identify poisons will make yourself useful."

"Was that a compliment I hear?"

The Potions Master ignored her and began to clean up and pack his things. "That will be it for this lesson," he said. Snape headed towards the door, but he stopped right in front of it. "Since those poisons contain metal-something you can manipulate, there may be a chance you can use your bending to save lives or perhaps end them. Think about that until your next lesson." The young earthbender felt him leave the room. Tonight's potions lesson took an unexpected turn. The earthbender couldn't wait for her lessons to be changed and become more fun. In a way, she saw the Potions master in a new light. She was glad he took her idea into consideration for the things she learns next might be of some use in the future.

* * *

After that night, Potions did become more interesting for the earthbender. Unfortunately for her, the lessons became harder. She was required to identify and memorize not only the required Potions of all the first four years, but she had to be able to identify a the specific poisons through earthbending as well as their antidotes. Some were easy to identify, while others had around the same amount of metal in some of them. However, Toph liked how she's finally able to use her metalbending in one of her classes. The other adults were pleasantly surprised by the news of her using metalbending in potions, even Snape himself.

She continued to improve and get a hang of transfiguration which pleased McGonagall. As summer started to come to an end for the earthbender, she was about finished with most of the content (this was mostly thanks to her finishing the herbology and DADA content earlier). In order for her to finish the rest, Tonks had to purchase her fifth year supplies for Toph. She couldn't afford to waste even an hour on her work. Even after all of the people, including Harry Potter and his friends arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place arrived, Toph paid no attention to them and tried to avoid any confrontations. She needed every single minute and second to finish the hellish studying and memorizing. By the time it became the day before the school year starts, Toph was finally finished with everything she needed to learn.

"Finally!" she said. "Hell is _finally_ over!" Tonks grinned and gave her a pat on the back while Lupin congratulated her with finishing. Professor McGonagall sighed, but didn't have her smile. Snape only nodded. After a day of rest, she can finally start working on finding a way back. Though it won't be a complete day of rest for there was a meeting that included her tonight. After a long nap, she went into their meeting room and took a seat as she waited for the rest to arrive. Once everyone was there, the meeting began with Dumbledore asking her a question.

"Miss Beifong," he called out to her. "Have I told you about the Sorting at Hogwarts."

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Then I should start from the beginning. Hogwarts was founded by four wizards and witches: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. There are four houses in the school and each house represents one of the founder's traits and values. An example would be that Rowena Ravenclaw valued knowledge and wisdom, so students within that house tend to be intelligent and diligent when it comes to their studies." He went on to explain the other three houses. Gryffindors tend to be brave with leadership qualities, Hufflepuffs tend to be hardworking and loyal, and Slytherins tend to be resourceful and cunning. He went to explain that the Sorting Hat looks into a person's memories, past actions, and thoughts to determine one's house. He added that though the Hat will recommend a house for students, the Hat will also take into account what the student wants.

"Harry Potter is in the house of Gryffindor. We would prefer for you to also be in the same house, but I will give you the option to decide your house," he finished.

"I see…" was all Toph said.

"Is something wrong Toph?" asked Tonks.

"Besides the separation part being a bit idiotic, nope," she answered. Many frowns were formed from what she said. "I have a feeling that there is already a set of expectations made in each house. Don't get me wrong, I think the idea of there being four houses seems interesting and all, but the idea there being houses that represent certain traits and how people would expect of them...don't like that."

"You are correct about there being exceptions," Dumbledore finally said. "There are times we forget Hogwarts can only be Hogwarts with all four Houses. There are times people misunderstand those because of which House they got sorted into, but I am glad that you aren't so easily influenced by stereotypes."

He went on to informing her that she will be giving a monthly report on Harry and his friends-the same day she will have to renew the charm on the bracelet. If there is an emergency, she will find the nearest of them to report to. The old man also informed them that one of them will have to fill in on the meetings that are missed by her when one of them has a chance. She learned that Dumbledore and the other adults already created a cover story. She would be a transfer student from a wealthy family somewhere in Asia. She hasn't attended a wizarding school because of her her parents wished to be with her as much as possible since she is blind. It wasn't until recently that her parents allowed her to attend a school. Her family has the ability to do wandless magic when manipulating rock or any earthen substance, but she was able to use her ability to help her see. They chose Hogwarts instead of Mahoutokoro because her parents had known the Headmaster.

Toph had some influence on her cover story, so it would be easier for her to lie and work with.

Other than that, it was just a repeat of what she already knew.

After the meeting, Toph was the first to head out of the room to sleep some more before her dinner was given to her. The adults remained in their seats as they watched her leave the room.

"I have greatly underestimated that girl," said Sirius. "I sometimes forget she's blind."

"I know how you feel," said Remus with a nod. Tonks also nodded and gave them all a similar look of understanding.

"We all have," said McGonagall. "She was quite a handful in her lessons, but Miss Beifong works hard...when the subject interests her...I still find it quite remarkable she is able to do magic as if she can see."

"Well no one still knows about her besides us. She knows vigilance, and if not she would have been useless to us," gruffed Moody.

Dumbledore was also quite pleased with the young earthbender and he was glad the the others are starting to recognize her worth. He turned to Snape. "What do you think about the bender, Severus?"

"It is always draining whenever I teach her," sighed the Potions master. "However she is a lot better student than a certain other fifteen-year-old."-Sirius gave the man a warning glare-"Miss Beifong's memory is very good and her ability to differentiate between poisons quite remarkable."

The others except Dumbledore were quite surprised by the man's compliments to the young Toph Beifong. _I have a feeling that something will change in Hogwarts_ , thought Dumbledore. _How amusing._

* * *

Author's Note:

I had actually written until chapter three right now, but I find it best to submit a chapter when I have finished writing the latest one if that makes sense. This means that I'll submit the third chapter after writing the fourth one. Anyways I hope you enjoy.


	3. A New Friend (Maybe?)

Disclaimer: I do not own "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: the Last Airbender."

* * *

Toph woke up extra early this morning. She slept, ate, and did physical training most of yesterday, so she was ready to do some intense morning workouts in her room. Her body was feeling sluggish after only being able to move her body around for more than an hour just yesterday. She missed earthbending and fighting, but she will have to wait until she was out of this house in order to do so. Sirius went up stairs to give her breakfast around five in the morning to avoid any questions from Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, the rest of the Weasley children, and the other adults. The earthbender packed up her things in her trunk while she ate.

She's to be accompanied by Sirius to the train station and wait on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters until the train arrived. Toph didn't like having to need someone else's help, but she can't read. They left the house as quietly as they could. He apparated himself and Toph near the King's Cross Station where there weren't many people. The earthbender thought Sirius, the black dog was insane when he pointed his paw towards a wall. It was obvious to her that he wanted her to run into it. She reluctantly did as she was told after telling him that he's going to take the blame if the station reduces to rubble. Toph was surprised to find herself in a completely different place (still in a train station of course). She made time pass faster by telling the black dog of her experiences with the trains in the Earth Kingdom.

Students started to arrive and the train appeared to be preparing for its ride to thanked Sirius and said good-bye to him before she boarded the train. It was difficult to move around the train since there was wood and rugged floors everywhere. Dumbledore told her that he made Harry Potter's friends Perfects and they will be helping her around the train and getting to Hogwarts. She picked a random seat to sit on for the time being and began to sleep.

* * *

"I don't think we should wake her up."

"And why the hell not?"

"Well, she must be tired coming here from somewhere far away. I feel bad if we just wake her up."

"She's supposed to be tagging along with us! How can we do that if the girl sleeps?"

"He says to _accompany her_ , not have her tag along. We should give her some time to rest and not disturb her."

"This train has a long way to go before it reaches Hogwarts Hermione. Just wake her up!"

"No!"

"Will you please argue someplace _far_ away from here?" Toph snapped. "I don't need either of you yelling in my ears."

The girl apologized profusely before turning her head towards the boy wearing a scowl upon her face. "See what I mean Ron? She must have been tired and now we disturbed her." _This must be Hermione Granger and the guy with her must be Ron Weasley,_ thought Toph.

"Well I was going to wake her up anyways," Ron muttered.

"Ron!"

"Ahem." The two looked at the transfer student and Hermione started apologizing to her again while Ron just mumbled to himself.

"My name is Hermione Granger and this is Ron Weasley. We are Perfects at and we were told by the Headmaster to help you around til we get to Hogwarts," said Hermione. "So um...you can place your hand on my shoulder for the time being." Toph took the girl's offer and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Our friend is waiting for us. We will introduce him to you."

"She probably knows about him," says Ron. "He's famous remember?"

"Maybe it's different in other countries Ron," she turned to Toph. "Do you know anyone named Harry Potter?"

"Not really," Toph lied. "Is he someone important?"

"Important? He's the only one in history to survive a killing curse, and he was able to survive Voldemort as a baby!" explained Ron. "I can't believe you don't even know about him. Anyways, he's a friend of me and Hermione-so yeah."

"I see...hm?" Toph noticed the floor felt cold beneath her bare feet. She let go of the girl's shoulder. Hermione turn around. "I can see now." She pointed down at the floor. The earthbender could sense her doubt, but she kept walking until they arrived to a car where four other people were sitting. Toph recognized one of the boys as Harry Potter.

Hermione introduced her to everyone in the train car and she introduced the others to her. The other boy was named Neville Longbottom who appeared to be similar to her best earthbending students when it comes to politeness. One of the girls was named Ginny Weasley (she did feel that she knew this girl from somewhere). The other girl's name is Luna Lovegood, a friend of Ginny's. She was gaining a lot of attention from them as they were curious of the new transfer student.

"Isn't there a magic school in Asia?" asked Luna. "I believe the name of it is Mahoutokoro."

Toph nodded. "My parents wanted me to broaden my horizons or something like that."

"Hm…" she could literally feel the younger girl staring straight at her. "Are you perhaps blind?"

"That's right." The others couldn't believe she asked the question so directly. Harry and Ginny were surprised to know that it's the truth. Toph knew what was coming and before anyone else asked her anymore questions, she quickly held a hand and said, "Ask me after I take a nap. When I wake up, you can ask me whatever question you would like." This seemed to silence them. Toph went on and got herself in a comfortable position to sleep in. She made a mental note to rest for a few more days before doing any early morning warm ups. A while later, the others went on and started talking about _The Quibbler_ , where Luna's father is the editor. She fell after a few minutes of them talking. Unfortunately to the earthbender woke up from her nap to the sound of unfamiliar people and audible insults.

"Awake now?" she heard Luna say to her.

Toph nodded. "It was a nice nap…" she started. Everyone in the compartment-including the three unfamiliars were startled when they felt the ground beneath them shake. The floor shook so violently that many of them were on the floor or grasping a hold of their seat. "Til certain people ruined it."

"W-what's going on?" Neville said while panicking.

"An earthquake," concluded Hermione.

"Earthquake?" many of them cried.

"Quit your crying," boomed Toph. This made everyone flinch. She took a deep breath and the compartment stopped shaking. All eyes were turned to her, all suspecting the same thing. One of the three guys unknown to the earthbender took his leave while mumbling a few curse words and with a mention of his father. The other two, probably his cronies followed suit. Luna was the only one who dared to ask the question everyone else who remained in the compartment wanted to ask.

"Was that you, Toph?" girl asked with not a hint of nervousness or fear in her voice. "Did you make that earthquake?"

"Yup," Toph confirmed it. "And it sure as hell worked with getting rid of all the fuss that woke me up. By the way, that wasn't an earthquake. I only shook the ground a little."

" _A little?_ " Ron had his jaw dropped. He and the rest couldn't believe her either. The new student only shrugged indifferently.

"If you guys wanted me to wreck this whole train, you guys probably would be dead by now."

"How did you do it?" asked Hermione, who still was having a hard time grasping what just happened. "What sort of wandless magic did you use?"

"It's not magic. It's _bending_ ," she corrected her. "Bending allows people to manipulate one of the four elements, and as I just demonstrated I am able to manipulate the earth. This is also the same skill that helps me see. I _see_ through the use of earthbending."

"I've never heard of bending," said Harry. "Are you sure this isn't a magic just found in Asia?"

Toph thought for a moment. That explanation seemed like a good cover up and it was best not to expose herself like that. Explaining it that way seems easier and there would be less people wanting to question her. She did not need any nosy people looking into her background and such. "Technically it is magic, but for us benders it is an entirely different skill because it is. Like I said before, benders can only manipulate one of the four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. The way a person learns to bend is different for each element for they represent different things."

"That's quite interesting," thought Ginny. They all nodded.

"Do you think it's possible for us to learn this kind of magic?" asked Hermione. The girl was now fascinated with this bending-magic that was foreign and new to her.

"I don't know," was Toph's answer. When Hermione had doubt in the other girl's answer, Toph sighed. "Seriously, I don't. (Hermione sighed disappointingly.) There are signs of a person's ability to bend. When you are young, you would sometimes bend unconsciously when feeling a strong emotion."

"Like accidental magic?" asked Luna.

"Uh, sure." She could only guess that it was probably the same thing. "If something like that happens, then that may not mean you can't learn how to bend. I never did any accidental magic, but I'm able to do it." Those words made Hermione's eyes sparkle with glee.

"Do you think you could teach me-I mean, uh, if you don't mind," Hermione said sheepishly. "N-nevermind. I-I take that back…"

"Sure. I don't really care," said Toph. Hermione looked at the girl with wide eyes. "But I must remind you that you are born able to learn one element. I don't know if you are an earthbender or not, so don't get your hopes up. I could probably teach you for a week and see if you can bend earth or not."

"Even if i can't bend earth, learning about it is more than enough for me," the girl said gleefully.

"Do you think I could join in with the week lessons, too?" asked Luna.

"And me?" asked Ginny.

"I-I am interested, too," said Neville.

"Hey! Count me in!" said Ron.

"If you don't mind," started Harry. "I would also like to learn."

Toph was surprised by the large interest in earthbending. She didn't think they would be _that_ interested in _rocks_ like herself. Though it could be because bending is so foreign and unknown to them. Toph mentally face palmed herself. _Of course it is! Bending is something outside this world. That was the first time they knew of such a thing._ Even so their interest made her happy and it was a nice feeling teaching students, even if all she could do was teach what earthbending was and not actually perform the art. The earthbender's lips formed a large grin. "You guys are going to have a hard time, you know. i don't go easy on anyone. Still up for the challenge?"

"Yes!" they all said in unison.

Toph couldn't wait.

* * *

Once the students arrived at Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione went ahead of them-most probably something to do with their new duties as Perfects. Luna, Neville, Ginny, Harry, and Toph got out of the train with all of their pets or pets of the two Perfects. Toph went on to "see" what's around this place. She could feel any sort of huge castle yet. Ginny explained it will be a while until they got to the school.

"Where's hagrid?" asked Harry, who is looking around him.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "Though I think it's best if we move away. We're blocking the door."

They were then separated from Ginny and Neville and were riding the flow of the crowd. Toph thought it would be best to stay near Harry, but it was almost impossible with so many people heading out of the station. She was lucky that she knew where he was, so the earthbender was able to meet up with him. He was heading towards one of the carriages and when he finally noticed her, Harry helped her up and got himself on soon after. Ron and Hermione came in as well. Hermione told them of how the Malfoy kid started picking on some of the younger students, and it was clear to them all that she was not happy. Luna then came in holding Ron's owl.

Harry then began to point out something that seemed extremely unusual to him. He kept pointing at something that looks like horses, but it seemed neither Ron or Hermione could see them. "Can't you guys see what's pulling these carriages?"

"You're talking about those things outside, right?" said Toph.

"Y-yeah."

"What are you guys talking about," Ron said feeling a bit frustrated on not knowing what is going on. He then pointed at Toph saying, "How do you know what's outside if you can't see? You're on a carriage!"

"I felt them earlier," she replied. "I'm surprised you can't see them."

"Don't worry Harry. I can also see them, too. You are just as sane as I am," Luna said dreamily.

Nobody said anything as they continue their ride to Hogwarts. She followed Harry and his friends inside the huge castle and went into the Great Hall that's continued to be filling itself up with returning students. Nobody didn't seem to pay any mind to her as she walked in. Toph could only guess that their eyes were more focused on a certain boy named Harry Potter. She seated near them and was confused by the voices that she was hearing. Toph felt shivers down her spine when she was told of the ghosts that were floating around. That may explain the voices they she was hearing, but it didn't help her that she couldn't feel them since ghosts are dead and rock knows it.

"It's Umbridge!" exclaimed Harry.

"Who?" said Hermione and Toph in unison.

"She was at my hearing," grumbled Harry. "Anyway, that woman works for Fudge!"

"She works with chocolate?" said Toph. "Wonder if I could ask for some free food while she's here." Ron sniggered. Harry and Hermione both tried to not react, but they ended up choking and joining Ron. Hermione was the first to calm herself knowing how potentially serious this could be.

"She works for Fudge…" she then muttered to herself. "No...it can't be…"

Toph knew of the man named Fudge and of how much he can't face reality. She only pretended to act ignorant of the Minister, but it was evident from the darkened look on her face that she didn't like where this was going.

The doors of the Great Hall were then opened. Professor McGonagall led a long line of first years while carrying a hat and a stool. Toph could tell that the younger children were scared and anxious. She thought of how fun it would be to tease them a little and maybe give them a punch on the shoulder. There wasn't any reason for them to feel scared...maybe. The earthbender sighed. All those kids needed to loosen up, that's all they need.

The Great Hall was silent and waited. It was then that the Sorting Hat began to sing. The song was long, but it had its meaning. The song summarized a bit of history and ended itself with a warning. She could only silent agree and nodded as the hat sang a few of its lines;

" _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong"_

After it finished its song, the hat moved no more and the whole hall applauded the hat. However, Toph could hear people whispering about the hat's song. She wondered if the hat gives warnings often. The hall then became silent as the sorting began as she heard a sound of parchment being unrolled by Professor Mcgonagall. The long line of students became smaller and smaller as each first year was sorted and went to their respective houses. The last of them, a girl named Rose Zeller was last and sorted into Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore rose from his seat to greet everyone in the hall. "To our newcomers I welcome you!" his voice rang. "To those of past years-welcome back! Now before we begin our feast, I would like everyone here to give a warm welcome to our new transfer student from eastern Asia, Toph Beifong!" Toph stood up and from there, the students broke into an applause. Hollers and shouts boomed from the Gryffindor table as they her amongst them. Professor McGonagall made sure that the screams, claps, and shouts died down, so that the Headmaster could continue.

"Miss Beifong," he said. "Please step forward, so that the Hat could sort you."

The earthbender walked towards Professor McGonagall and sat on the wooden stool. The elder woman placed the hat on her head and much to Toph's annoyance, the Hat really did speak to her. " _Well well well,"_ said the Hat. " _What do we have here? A bender? Hm...so it seems you have lost a bit of your memories."_

 _Not remembering how I got here is a lot less than 'a bit,'_ she informed the Hat. _And I_ really _don't appreciate you looking through my head either._

" _Hm...secretive, are we? I can only think of that as something a Slytherin would mostly do…"_

 _No, I just find it creepy._

" _I see…Well yes, actually-let me_ see _,"_ The Sorting Hat began. " _I honestly can't see you much as a Ravenclaw since you don't exactly value knowledge as much as your strength and abilities, but you do know its worth. Since you do and have your own wit, you would use it to your advantage-something Salazar would appreciate in one of someone in his house…_

" _You are also brave and daring as shown from your contribution to the war you had fought…_

" _But what shines is your loyalty to your friends, students, and to your morales. You care deeply for your friends and mentors in life, and the students you teach at your school have a place in your heart. You may be strict on your students-and sometimes brutal, but you always believed in their abilities even when they doubt themselves. Hm…where to put you..."_

Before the Sorting Hat continued with his thought, Toph interjected. _Before you pick whatever house I'll be staying in, I want to ask you something. Why do these lilies need to be separated? Even a complete idiot can tell that the students will turn from each other. This so-called_ 'house rivalry' _isn't a healthy one. Look at the Slytherins for one thing. Everyone in the school is pointing fingers and_ assuming _everyone in that house is evil and a total asshole. I bet I'll meet a prick from Gryffindor without even trying._

" _Hmm...to answer your question, I suppose it is for the sake of tradition to honor the founders of Hogwarts. I can't agree with it all-especially us knowing what is to come, but I have this hope knowing that there will be a day when these complete separations and stereotypes will become minimal,"_ the Sorting Hat chuckled. " _Maybe even that is too idealistic."_

 _Why must you keep tradition? I know now that sometimes it could be a good thing, but is one is obviously not. Are these people stupid?_

" _I can only think of it as respecting the founders,"_ was all the hat said. " _You know, all of this questioning is making you appear like a Ravenclaw."_

 _I know,_ she thought to the Hat. _And it's exhausting. Do you have an idea of where I will be sorted into?_

" _Hm...It's still tricky. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin are some possible choices, but your brutally honest personality might not work as well in Hufflepuff compared to the other three houses...though I suppose your bluntness could be another form of kindness at some points...then again I could see that you really don't have that good of a filter,"_ the Hat observed. " _Do you have any preferences?"_

 _Nope._

" _Then what is that you value most?"_

 _My friends, my teachers, and my students. I thought you were supposed to know all this? Losing your touch?_

" _Then let me rephrase this. Who would you save; those you care for or your world?"_

* * *

The dinner hall was filled with hushed whispers from all the tables and houses. Most of the Professors began to worry-even Snape was starting to frown. Professor McGonagall couldn't help but feel the same. The Headmaster continue to wait silently knowing that Toph must be having a conversation with the old Sorting Hat. The students in Gryffindor are beginning to doubt that the new student will be in their house, but the twins from the Weasley family are making bets on which house she'll end being sorted into.

"Do you think she will be in Gryffindor?" asked Ron.

"I don't know, but it's taking an awfully long time just to sort a single student," Hermione bit her lip as she glanced at the girl sitting on the stool. "I'm worried. She's been on that stool longer than you have Harry. Do you think something might be wrong?"

Harry didn't say anything. He also wondered why it was taking so long for the transfer to get sorted. She didn't appeared to be complex or anything. She's harsh, but she is an interesting person and the girl didn't appear to be a bad person. _She even agreed to teach us earthbending._ Harry also thought that Toph would be in Gryffindor because of how she carries herself. Maybe he-and his friends, were wrong? That doesn't answer any of his questions.

"Wait-why _that_ house of all houses?" yelled Ron. "I know you guys have a lot of the devil's luck, but there's no way she would be…"

"Wait and see…" began Fred.

"Oh little 'Perfect' brother," ended George.

"What are you guys arguing about?" asked Harry.

"These two think that the Toph girl would be sorted into…"

" _SLYTHERIN!"_

* * *

Author's Note:

Well this was a lot of dialogue...oh well. Hope you enjoy.


	4. The Food is Good

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Avatar: the Last Airbender.

* * *

" _SLYTHERIN!"_

The dinner hall was silent from shock. No one expected the transfer to be sorted into the house of Slytherin. The jaws of Harry, Hermione, and Ron dropped. They didn't expect their (possibly) new friend would end up being in the 'House of Snakes.' The youngest son of the Weasley family was too stunned to pay any attention to his elder twin brothers telling him and many others to "pay up." The Slytherins were also (pleasantly) surprised. They never thought that the new foreigner would actually be sorted into their house. More often than not, many would want to be in Gryffindor because it is the so-called 'house of the brave.' This silence went on-even within the teacher's table. The silence was only broken after much observation from the new student herself.

"Where's the Slytherin table?" Toph asked. Her question brought the other students back to reality and whispers began to spread throughout the dining hall. Professor McGonagall appeared to be one of several people in the room giving little reaction to the reveal of the transfer's house, and helped guide the new student to her respective table. "I could have walked to the table myself, you know. You didn't need to walk me all the way here."

"The table is made out of wood and there aren't any chairs. There are two long seats without a back," explained the Professor.

"Oh," was all Toph could say. "Thank you." Her thanks was her only apology she could manage right now, but Professor McGonagall smiled even if she couldn't see it.

"You are welcome," the professor turned and made her way to the teacher's table. She helped Dumbledore settle the students down, and thus he called forth the beginning of the large feast.

The earthbender could hear the other students picking up their own servings of food with a knife and a fork. Her own food, that was personalized just for her was suppose to appear right in front of her. The Headmaster said that when the house elves were informed of the foreign student, they wanted to make her feel welcomed. Toph told the old man to tell them she doesn't really care and that she was used to eating different kinds of food, but he insisted that she accept the elves' offer on the food. After a minute or two of waiting, a familiar aroma filled her nose. She knew that it was a fourth of a roasted chicken with spices here and there. It was also garnished with kale and lettuce with boiled rice on the side. Toph placed her hand on the table with her fingers gliding the surface until she felt two wooden sticks on her right side. With a small grin forming on her face, she separated the two sticks and began to dig into her food. _The elves make good food,_ Toph thought. _I'll give them a longer list next time I see them._

Her meal was suddenly interrupted by a girl's voice who was sitting diagonally from her. She had dark bobbed hair and a pugged-nose, but of course the blind Toph didn't know of her physical features. "Why aren't you eating something different?" the girl asked. Toph heard her sniff the air. "The smell is not bad. What is it?"

"Roasted chicken," she answered. "Can't tell what kind of chicken it is though."

"Can I have some?"

"No."

This took the other girl by surprised. "What do you mean ' _no'_? That wasn't a question!" Her voice then turned into a taunting tone. "Or are you too _blind_ to _see_ that."

The girl's taunting didn't faze her. She was already used to people degrading her because they thought she was weak and helpless. Something as a petty insult about her blindness only irked her, but it is far from wasting her energy. "Or are you just too stupid to know what no means."

The other girl stood up. "What did you just say to me? Don't you know I'm a Perfect?"

"That 'you're just too stupid to know what no means?' What about it?" Toph then thought for a moment. "Well, you can't be _that_ stupid if you can notice my blindness. You don't know how long it took other people to finally get a hint."

By this time, people from not only the Slytherin table were watching, but those from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are as well. Those of the other table couldn't believe what was going on. A fight was brewing in Slytherin. In _Slytherin._ The girl finally noticed the stares from all the other students. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. There was no way Pansy Parkinson was going to be publically humiliated by some blind transfer student. She forced on a sly smile. "You must be a half-blood with that arrogance," the other girl said. "Mudbloods wouldn't be able to enter Slytherin and a well-bred Pureblood would show good mannerisms suited for a lady. _You are far from being a lady._ "

Toph shrugged. "My parents tried to force the idea on me for years, but of course they failed. I'd rather kick some ass than pretty up for sissies calling themselves men. I promise you it's a lot more fun fighting than watching other people fight, Little Missy."

"Little Missy?" the other girl shrieked. "It's Pansy Parkinson!"

"Too bad," Toph stuck out her tongue which angered the other girl even more. "I like Little Missy better."

Before Pansy could say anything more of Toph, Dumbledore rose and all eyes were turned to the old man. Pansy sat down with her face as flushed as a tomato. Toph was glad that she didn't have to talk to the girl anymore. She was beginning to irritate her and it might have ended badly if the Patsy-or whatever didn't shut herself up. The old man began by saying that the students are prohibited to cross into the Forbidden Forest; this included the first years and the older students. He also reminded the students that magic is not allowed to be used in areas with an extended list on Professor Filch's door. He also introduced two new members of the teaching staff: Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures and Professor Umbridge, who will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. There was a round of polite applause among the students, but it didn't interest many of them, including Toph. The Headmaster continued on by starting the next topic, but he stopped midway through a sentence.

The students didn't understand why Dumbledore suddenly stopped, but Toph could feel that one of them was standing on her feet. It wasn't until the woman said, " _Hem, hem,"_ that the others had also started to take notice. The Headmaster took his seat with Toph not helping, but raise an eyebrow. She knew that teachers weren't supposed to interrupt the Headmaster. The woman didn't bother her until she spoke in a high-pitched, girly voice that annoyed her more than Pansy's high and mighty personality. Toph could only guess that the woman was most likely Umbridge for she hadn't met her before the start of school.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she said. "for your kind words of welcome."

The woman gave another " _Hem, hem"_ and continued on speaking to the students as if they were little children. After the first few sentences of her lengthy and boring speech, Toph was starting to find herself feel drowsy. The woman had no idea how speak to her audience and it was apparent to her that the woman knew known of it. The earthbender heaved out a sigh and rested cheek on the heel of her palm with her elbow resting on the table. _This will take a_ long _time, isn't it?_ She sighed. The woman went on and on with her speech. Toph still couldn't believe she isn't noticing the side conversations that was going on around the hall. The earthbender was starting to feel the need to do something as well, so she removed her bracelet and laid her head on the table while manipulating the meteor rock underneath the table. Best not to show off her bending right now for good measure. Her head only perked up once she heard the students and staff clapping only a couple of times before stopping.

Dumbledore then stood. "Thank you very much for your Speech, Professor Umbridge. It was very illuminating," he said. The Headmaster continued where he left off on the topic of Quidditch.

Once he was finished, she got up and waited for Snape to meet her. Since he will be her Head of House, he will have to tell her who she will be sleeping with. He caught met up with her along with another student who is probably in the same house. "This is Bailee Lynwood, a seventh year Perfect. She will be accompanying you to the girls' dormitories and show you which room you will be staying in." The girl extended out her hand and Toph shook it.

"Toph Beifong," she introduced herself. The other girl gave her a slight nod.

Snape then looked at Toph. "You remember the location of the Headmaster's office, correct?" He saw the girl nod. "Before heading to the dining hall, go to him in the morning. Final adjustments were made for your schedule."

"Anything else?"

"That will be it." The Potions master turned and said his "good night."

"Let's go," said Bailee.

Toph followed her lead. There wasn't much problem getting around the castle so far since all she's doing is following the Perfect girl, though it puzzled her quite a bit when they reached the moving staircase. She wore a strange look as she tugged on the other girl for answers.

"The staircases in Hogwarts do that. It's normal and you'll get used to it," she said. "Do you need any assistance walking up the stairs?"

Toph shook her head. The moving staircases was strange, but it wasn't anything the greatest earthbender in the world can't handle. After all the staircases are made out of stone, so Toph knew it wouldn't be a problem. "Don't need it."

Bailee raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Whatever you say."

The girls walked past the staircase and went towards a stone wall in the dungeons. "Remember the password that I will say. It's what will get you through to the Common Room. _Serpens._ " After saying the password, the wall opened itself and the girls entered the Slytherin Common Room. Toph could feel the many tables and chairs that scattered the area as well as the fireplace and other large furniture. Toph continued to follow Bailee up another flight of stairs which led to a hall with many rooms. The Perfect girl continued while the newer student followed. It wasn't until they were in the very end when the older girl stopped and turned. "This room was assigned to you personally by the Headmaster and Professor Snape if you were ever placed into Slytherin. We only have four single rooms in each dorm of each House in Hogwarts. The place is pretty small, but that is to be expected since you are the only one by yourself."

"Why am I in the single rooms?" Toph asked. She wasn't told of this. Though it would make life a lot easier, she didn't need any extra help.

"I can't answer that question," she said. "You should ask Professor Snape. Anyways, you should head off to bed. Get a picture or something and get that room a password. You'll need it."

"Yeah...thanks."

Bailee nodded. "Goodnight." She made her way down to her own room, but the girl turned and added, "If you have any questions, ask me or another Perfect. Though I strongly suggest not asking Parkinson…"

 _That would be obvious,_ she thought to herself. The Little Missy probably hates her guts, but it didn't matter to her much. Toph waited until Bailee was out of her range to enter her room.

Bailee wasn't kidding when she said it was small. The twin bed took up about a seventh of the whole room with a small dresser at one of the corners. There was a fairly large window that took up a lot of one of the walls which was completely covered by the curtains. The bathroom was located on the other side of the room, though mud is the best bath there is for the earthbender. Rest was what the earthbender needed. She could tell that tomorrow was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Author's Note:

This is a pretty short chapter. I thought it would be better to separate 3 and 4, and not have them in the same chapter. The next one is going to be pretty long. Meaning it would be about three times longer? I don't know. We'll see about it.


	5. Growing Irritation

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

The heated discussion with Seamus last night made the eyebrows of Harry Potter furrow. Even when he tried to raise them up and down, they continue to stay in that state. He could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose hoping it would help him relax his facial muscles even it's just a tiny bit. He knows that he can't control what others think of him, though he honestly wished he could. Seamus and his mother think he's gone mad and others in his own house agree with him. Why can't they understand? Why in the world would they deny his every word and believe in their own assumptions? It's honestly ridiculous! The only ones who believe him are Ron and Hermione, but that's because they are his best friends. The likelihood of anyone outside that would be all in denial (maybe not the rest of the Weasley family, but still!) Harry could only stare as he and his friends saw fourth year Ravenclaws hurrying themselves away from the sight of him. He didn't know what Hermione was thinking when she mentioned house-unity, but the chance is even less than zero.

The thought of house-unity made him think about the new transfer student. It was such a shame really. He actually thought that the girl didn't seem too bad (since she didn't look like she knew anything of what happened in Britain), but her being in Slytherin isn't a good sign. It was weird. A girl from a foreign country, who knows another type of magic, who is in Slytherin, and who is studying abroad even with the possible danger of her being killed confused her. Her parents either believe the Ministry of Britain's word or are completely ignorant of the recent events from last school year. Whatever it is it doesn't concern him with the girl being in the house of Slytherin and all.

A while after Harry and his friends were seated, Angelina came over to tell him about Quidditch try-outs and how she was made Captain this year. He nearly had forgotten that the former Keeper had graduated. Once the older girl left, a barrage of owls stormed in to drop the _Daily Prophet._ He couldn't believe that Hermione, of all rational people would continue paying for a newspaper filled of lies. "Why are you still getting that?" Harry said irritatedly. "That _thing..._ is a load of rubbish."

Hermione didn't look up to meet Harry's eyes as she grabbed the paper. "The best thing to do right now is to gather anything useful from the enemy," she replied with a sharp tone. Hermione began to read through the paper as the boys eat. She placed it down. "Nothing in here says anything about you or Dumbledore."

Professor McGonagall came walking and handed out the timetables for the school year. Ron could help but look as if the world is going to end. "Our schedule today. We got History of Magic, double Potions and double Defense," groaned Ron. "A class with Binns, two classes with Snape, Divination, and then two with that Umbridge woman, _all in one day_! I wish Fred and George would hurry with those Skiving Snackboxes…"

"Are my ears deceiving me?" two identical redheads appeared and made room for themselves on the long bench. "You, a _Prefect_ , doesn't wish to skive class now do you?"

"Look at this!" Ron shoved his schedule to his brothers. The twins sighed and shrugged.

"We see your point little brother," Fred said as he shook his head with George. "We will give you a discount on some of our other products."

"They will make you go to the hospital wing," added George.

"The both of you, stop that!" said Hermione. "And you shouldn't advertise your products like that, too."

The twins shrugged. "Fifth year is the O.W.L.'s year," they sang.

"So what?"

"The Professors will make sure you don't have almost any free time. Homework, writing, and more writing," explained George.

"There were many students in our year who had fainted...so many tears," Fred said dramatically.

"What hell it was that year," the twins reminisced.

The twins continued to talk to the younger students about the horrors of their O.W.L. year, until the end of breakfast.

* * *

Toph headed down to the Great Hall feeling refreshed. Her body felt light and her mind was in a calm state. She felt that it was early in the morning and thought that she would be one of the first to show herself. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. She did wonder why she felt many students on the other side of the doors, but it wasn't until Toph asked Bailee that she realized that she overslept. The calm in her head was now filled with a rush and a purpose of eating food.

There was no way she was making through the day on an empty stomach!

The girl ate so fast that it disgusted some of the surrounding Slytherins. She continued to stuff food into her mouth like it was stuffing a bag full of gold. After gulping down her whole breakfast, she grabbed the glass of water and drank the entire glass in seconds. Toph let out a deep breath and sighed, as if on cue the bell rang. The earthbender was about to head out of the door following the rest of the students, but was stopped by the the Seventh year, who is holding some parchment. Another student stood next to the elder girl. Toph thought that the student was familiar, maybe she passed by him or her on the train?

"You won't know where you're going when you're out of here," said Bailee. She reached for the other girl's hand and placed a folded piece of parchment. "Your first class is Charms. Just in case you don't know already, you will be taking your core classes with all of your other fellow Slytherins."

She gestured to the student next to student next to her. "This is Draco Malfoy, a Prefect in our house. He is in your year, so if there are any questions about where classes are, go to him. Also, go to him if you have any other questions if you can't get ahold of the other Professors or myself."

The boy extended his hand to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same," said Toph as she accepted his handshake.

"Good," said Bailee with a nod. "Hurry onto class. I'll see you later."

A nod came from Toph and the other Prefect before they went their separate ways. She went ahead and followed closely behind the boy as they made their way up the astronomy tower. There weren't many other students walking around the halls. They must not be late, but Toph knew it was a matter of time before they are late to class. While the two Slytherins sped-walked to Charms, Malfoy thought it might be a good time to get some small talk going.

"How is your stay in Hogwarts, Beifong?" started Malfoy.

"It's fine," she said without any interest in talking.

"Oh." The air around them shifted uncomfortably between them, but it seemed that it only bothered the Prefect boy. He tried to think of something to say that may interest the new student, but it was futile as they got closer to their destination. "We are almost there."

Toph continued to follow him until they got inside the classroom. Malfoy went to take his seat around a couple of other students while she headed to an open seat near the front of the classroom. Charms was an okay subject to listen to, but it was more interesting to watch the spells in action. She enjoyed her time during the summer when Tonks demonstrated the spells needed to learn. Even when Professor Flitwick began the class with a lecture on the importance of O.W.L.s, she gave the Professor's undivided attention.

The class began with reviewing summoning spells which was fairly easy to since she just performed them not too long ago unlike the other students in the class. Near the end of the class, the Charms Professor assigned quite a lot of homework that required a lot of writing. Toph shook her head and smiled. She pitied them since she was expected to do that load of homework. However her smile vanished when he spoke of an alternative assignment she knew was addressed for her. It was the exact same thing as the written homework, except she had to make it into a ten to fifteen minute speech on the same topic. Toph banged her head on the desk.

Class was dismissed and she went to meet with Malfoy. Unfortunately to her annoyance, a certain Slytherin girl was right next to him. Toph could faintly feel the intense glare flickered with suspicion and disgust. She could hear the other girl's snarky princess voice ringing in her ears. "What is someone as ungraceful and ill-mannered as yourself doing by coming to _my_ Draco?"

 _This girl can't be serious,_ she internally sighed. Toph faced towards the Prefect boy's direction and ignoring the other girl. "Until I know where all the classrooms are, I'm just going to follow you to our core classes."

"Who do you think…"

"That's fine," said Malfoy with a nod. "You are a transfer student and a lady at that. I can't allow my fellow housemates get themselves lost."

Toph took a deep breath and exhaled. She's used to being referred to as a 'lady' since she had to act like one for the first twelve years of her life and for a little mission, but the sound of that word makes her cringe. "I appreciate it, Malfoy." It wasn't a lie, but if only he left the last part of the first sentence out… "Thanks."

"No need. Come," he gestured to the two boys following him, the Little Missy, and herself to follow him. The Prefect boy introduced the other boys, Crabbe and Goyle to her. They didn't seem too bad, but they might be a bit slow. The Parkinson girl on the other hand continued to glare, but it was sharper compared to the one from earlier. Toph ignored her, much to the other girl's frustration.

"What's our next class?" Toph asked.

"Read your own timetables or is it that you can't?" taunted the Parkinson girl.

Toph paid no mind to the girl's comment. She was a little disappointed to know that the other girl is as much of an idiot as she thought the girl is. Pansy Parkinson didn't believe that she was blind like everyone else. They only played along and thought it was her game. She repeated the question.

"Potions, every Slytherin's favorite class," answered Malfoy.

"Why would that be?"

"Two main reasons: one is that our Head of House, Professor Snape teaches that subject and he favors us more than all the other houses. The second is because what he does to Harry Saint Potter." He continued to explain the second reason, "That show-off is an attention-seeker and everyone knows it. Professor Snape is included and in each class, he makes sure that he knows his place. It brings us Slytherins joy whenever he makes his life terrible."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement. Parkinson was beaming as she nodded along with them. Toph raised an eyebrow to all four of them. It was quite apparent that she was in a house where the majority disliked Harry Potter. Not only that, even Professor Snape obvious hates the boy's guts. There wasn't anything that she could think of that made the boy a show-off or an attention-seeking git after observing occasionally during the summer or when she finally met him. It was obvious that people are paying close attention to rumors, hearsay, and their own close-minded heads. _That's just pathetic_.

The five Slytherins made their way to the Potions classroom and took their seats. She separated herself from the other four and stay in the very back of the classroom. Other students from Slytherin came in as well as some familiar students. Toph assumed that the class was filled with Slytherins _and_ Gryffindors. Once everyone was inside the classroom, Professor Snape closed the door and commanded everyone to sit down. The tone was harsh it startled several students.

He made his way to the front of the room and began his class by saying that that this year will be difficult, and added that only the best will be accepted into his N.E.W.T. class. He made many looks towards Harry's way. The Potions master assigned the class to make the Draught of Peace. This was the cue for Toph to begin paying attention. The potion is supposed to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. He made the instructructions appear on the board with a flick of his wand and told the class that they have only an hour and a half to complete the task. Her peers began to create their potion immediately.

The Potions Master then made his way to the back of the classroom where Toph was sitting. He recited what was on the board in a softer voice so that those in the very front of the class could just barely hear him. After repeating the potion directions back to the man, the Professor went back to the front and gathered several vials off of his desk. Some students looked up and behind them curiously wondering what the transfer student is doing with the Professor. "Mr. Weasley, keep your eyes on your potion before it explodes," he said sharply. "Five points from Gryffindor."

A 'tsk' sound came from the Gryffindor as he turned his head and looked at his potion in progress. Toph frowned. There was a time she had a student of her's who was difficult in the beginning. He did the same the as Ron Weasley when the student wasn't focussing on his own work which pissed the earthbender off. She ended up making him do one hundred and fifty push-ups and seventy-five one-leg squats on each leg as punishment. Her other students from the metalbending academy knew that she was giving the boy an easy warning and that next time would be straight to hell. She might offer some advice to the Potions Master later for now isn't the time.

The Professor placed one of the vials in front of her and opened it. "The potion will emit a silver vapour if done correctly, but since you can't see you will have to memorize it's smell since it is always different when a mistake is made," he said. The Potions Master opened the vial and made sure Toph had it in her hands.

The earthbender took a good whiff of the potion. She sighed in relief after finding out that the potion's smell isn't putrid like some others. The Draught of Peace smelled a bit citrusy with a hint of certain spices she couldn't put her finger on. The smell reminded her of the beach house on Ember Island. _How nostalgic._ "Got it."

"Good." The Professor then went straight to telling her the instructions of making the potion. He repeated them once more before he began walking around the classroom. Toph was supposed to use this time to repeat the potion in her head, but it made her eyelids heavy. The Professor noticed this and came back to her. "Walk around the classroom and identify those who did the potion correctly."

The earthbender could help but smile with excitement. "About time," she said in a voice that was just above a whisper. The Potions master gave her a look and didn't say anything.

Toph got up and started from the back. She sniffed the air near the cauldrons and was met with stares and strange looks from both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. The familiar prissy voice commented about how she was really a dog to her seatmate. Apparently the girl thought Toph couldn't hear her since this exchange was made in such a hushed voice, but it was a pity for her since she was ignorant of the earthbender's sharp ears. Toph zeroed on the Parkinson girl. "Miss Parkinson," she called. Parkinson ignored her.

 _Oh is that how you want to play…_ " _Little Missy_ ," Toph said clearly and loud enough for those in arm's length could hear her. The Slytherin girl flinched and turned her head. Toph tried to make her tone and voice into a hybrid of Professor McGonagall's professionalism and her own sharpness of the tongue. "If you have time to talk behind other people's backs, I suggest you use it to correct your potion. Your assignment is to make the Draught of Peace, _not_ a putrid perfume. It isn't as bad as the others I have examined earlier, but it is still disappointing and pathetic. You have enough time to redo it all and get full marks if you so choose."

This made the Slytherin princess fume. "What did you…?"

"Shut up and concentrate on your work," Toph snapped. "Give the Professor a potion to be proud of. Show me how wrong I am."

The mouth of the Parkinson girl was open and speechless. These sudden words of encouragement also caught the ears of students around them. Professor Snape's lips formed a small smile before going back to its stiff and firm frown. "Miss Beifong, continue on if you will."

"Sure thing." She passed through other cauldrons. Many went very wrong, but there were some like Parkinson's who only made a one or a few significant mistakes. They weren't all from Slytherin. The earthbender gave similar encouraging words to those several students. They were harsh, yes, but encouraging nonetheless.

"Potter, what's this supposed to be?"

Toph could hear about half of the students turn from their spots towards Professor Snape's and Harry Potter's direction. She raised an eyebrow. The potion couldn't be too bad compared to many of the other students in the classroom.

"The Draught of Peace," Harry Potter replied stiffly.

"May I ask you something, Potter?" said the Professor. "Can you read?"

Toph heard a laugh from a familiar Slytherin Prefect.

"Of course I can," he said gritting his teeth.

"Read the third line for me."

The Gryffindor boy did just that and realized his mistake. He admitted to the Professor his mistake that was already known to the Potions Master. The Professor was about to clear the caudron of the potion, but was suddenly stopped by a certain earthbender.

"Hold your wand, Professor," said Toph. She was blocking the Potions Master's view of the caudron completely with her body.

"Miss Beifong, I would greatly appreciate it if you move out of my way for a moment," he said impatiently. "Potter's potion was a complete failure. You would know this of course."

All of the students in the class looked at the Professor and then Toph and then at the Professor again. They were surprised someone would try to defend the Potion Master's most hated student. The Slytherins frowned at this while the Gryffindors all had mixed feelings and curious looks. Harry Potter and his friends were stunned to just have a Slytherin of all people defending him.

Toph shrugged. "Almost everyone is a failure today, Professor. Miss Granger, Miss Parkinson, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Nott were the only ones who did their potion correctly in the very end. Miss Parkinson did her's twice and finished at the very last minute, but it was still successful. Everyone else was filled with a single error or two such as Mr. Potter or something of a total disaster. I think a good penalty for mistakes is awesome, but only if it is given equally. Honestly, I would make these pipsqueaks suffer until they understand the worth of their mistakes instead of a zero, but hey, that's just me.

"Anyways, if you give Mr. Potter here a zero, give everyone who didn't do their potion correctly a zero. They are all complete failures in your book."

Murmurs filled the room after her last sentence left their mouths. None of them wanted to get a zero on their assignment like Harry Potter and we're glad knowing that the Potions master would do that to them, but the transfer's suggestion was definitely frowned upon. Professor Snape silenced everyone in the classroom and turned his attention back on Toph.

"Go sit down, Miss Beifong," he said warningly.

"Are you going to give everyone zeroes?" Toph asked. "Or are you going to involve your personal feelings into your professional life."

Professor Snape's impatience and anger were washed away by a wave of shock. He was completely speechless. His brows neared its way to the top while his eyes were wide and staring at the transfer. The whole classroom was still. No one, not even the Slytherins dared to move or make their breaths audible. This was the first time any student dared to make their disagreements known right in front of not only the teacher, but in front of the entire class. This uncomfortable and suffocating silence went on for a few minutes before the Potions Master blinked and tried to pull himself together.

"See me after class, Miss Beifong," said the Professor. He then gave instructions for the class to prepare the potions made for grading. He didn't say or do anything else regarding Harry's potion, so the boy placed his in one of the flagons and labeling it his like everyone else. The bell rang and everyone stole a few glances of Toph before exiting the classroom. All who remained were the earthbender and Potions Master.

The two of them were silent for a moment. Toph was waiting for some sort of punishment from the elder man, and she wanted to get it over with. The savoring aromas of food call for her, and she was not going to let them grow cold. Unfortunately for her, the Professor is continuing to study her. _Whatever the man's thinking, he could obviously do it without me around._

"Miss Beifong, do you know when and when not to stick your nose into a situation?" the Professor finally began. His tone held a similar rhythm to the one used towards a certain Gryffindor.

"I do, actually," Toph replied and unaffected by the change.

"Is that so? Then I would like to inform you that this time you didn't. Potter's so-called potion is the business between him and myself, _not_ _another student_. I do not need a student to help deal with another for his incompetency and I certainly _do not need_ one of my own students to talk back at me," the anger in his voice grew. "I would _love_ to hear your poor excuses to your behavior, Miss Beifong."

"The way you treat Four Eyes differently from everyone else is wrong on every level," argued Toph. "I can understand your favoritism towards the Slytherins, but singling out Potter for no good reason is downright stupid."

"What did you just…" Professor Snape was starting to loose control and wanted to show the girl her place, but she wouldn't let him.

"I could tell from the first mention of Harry Potter that you held some sort of grudge against him. I don't know what it was or when this all happened, but once you and him are in a classroom setting, _you are the teacher_. A teacher's job is to teach and help their students understand the importance and worth of the subject he or she is teacher. They should not only discipline their students, but also provide support and be able see the potential of every single student.

"Your explanations and way of teaching isn't the problem. It's your close-mindedness and inability to see past the judgments you made on your students, _Professor_." She didn't give the Professor any time to think or respond before she made her way to the classroom door and slammed it behind her.

* * *

A few deep breaths were needed to calm herself right now, but she was in the mood of some hardcore earthbending practice. Her fists and feet need to be relieved of the building urge to knock the whole school off the face of the earth. She silently gave her brain and its logic her thanks before anyone got hurt. The fact that the earthbender wanted to give the Potions Master a piece of her fist, nothing good would come through with that decision.

The gradual building of trust and credibility between the selected adults of the Order would crumble and she would have to start from square one. The adults recognizes her quick mind and firmness, but to them she isn't on equal footing. None of them, except for the Old Man believe that she could take down several Death Eaters on her own. Her job maybe to protect Harry Potter, but this is also a way for the Old Man to protect her as well. She is away from doing any missions that have the potential of taking her life. This also gives the other adults a way to watch over her as well. Multiple times in the past months she wanted to convince them of relieving her of the job as "babysitter" and be a part of the real fight. However, she knew that it would be a waste of breath and that none of the adults truly understood just how powerful and amazing she is in action.

This is especially true in regards to Severus Snape.

Toph sighs and holds onto her grumbling tummy. Food was calling her name and the sound of the word lunch was like a melodic note that played a savory tune. _Food._ She found herself running to the Great Hall and opening its doors. _Damn. Where's the Slytherin table?_ It took her a while to find where her fellow Slytherins are, but finally she found it and sat at the edge of the table where there's some open space. Food came on schedule and Toph dug into it happily. Her mind was so focused on consuming her meal that it took a while before she noticed the presence of a recently acquainted Slytherin. She stopped eating.

"I was wondering how long you were going to take notice of me," Malfoy said with a hint of amusement.

"You could have just called out to me," she said before taking another bite into her food.

"I did. Multiple times actually."

"Well-" She swallowed the last bit of her meal. "What do you want?"

Malfoy sat down next to her. There was no more space on that end of the table. He began in a tone that didn't sound as friendly, or rather the tone sounded like he wanted to test him. There was some concern dashed on top of suspicion, and Toph could only assume that he and Harry Potter weren't on friendly terms. "Have you ever heard of Potter before coming to Hogwarts, Beifong?"

"Nope, not at all," she lied.

The boy shook his head and sighed. "Then you don't know anything at all, do you?

"Harry Saint Potter is a someone who likes to show off and loves attention. He does whatever she can do to make his name known: being friends with a Mudblood and Blood Traitor at that. He gets himself into trouble whenever he can and likes to show the whole entire school of his talents in Quidditch just because he got on the Gryffindor Team in his First year!

"Anyways, besides all that stuff, what you need to know is what happened before the beginning of summer last school year. You've heard of the TriWizard Tournament, right?" Toph nodded. She heard of it a couple of times in the past from the Old Man. "Potter and Cedric Diggory were the Champions for Hogwarts, of course Diggory was the _real_ Champion. Anyways, on the last task, those two were taken somewhere after touching the Cup since it was apparently a portkey. They both came back, only with Potter holding a dead Diggory. He claims the Dark Lord killed him, but everyone knows that he's dead. He's only saying that to get more attention. Dumbledore believes him, but he's just going senile."

Toph had heard a very short summarized version of Harry Potter's experiences from the Old Man and heard quite a tale of his third year from Sirius and Remus. All she knew from his previous year was that in an international tournament, Voldemort was about to kill Potter, but managed to escape. A student died, unfortunately, died instead. She knew a bit of what a portkey was as well as the tournament, but this was the first time the earthbender heard a bit more details instead of the overall picture. The girl was too busy with her studies that she didn't bother asking any questions of what the Gryffindor boy experienced.

She laid her palm over her forehead and shook her head. "That means he witnessed the death Cedric Diggory."

Malfoy was taken aback and thought for a moment. "Well, sure that's true, but he _is_ lying about it being because of the Dark Lord as well as him being alive. He…"

"Malfoy," she said in a stern voice. "Have you ever been in combat?"

"What?"

"Let me rephrase that, have you ever been in a life or death situation? In a situation where a moment of hesitation could mean your life or another's?"

"No, but I don't understand how this has to do with anything."

Toph took a deep breath and tried to find some patience with the boy in front of her. "When you are up against a force in which you feel as if you will die because all of the odds are against you, your first instinct would be to find a way to keep yourself and anyone with you alive. Potter must have been in that situation. Whether or not it was with Voldemort-" Malfoy finched. "Oh come _on_ , it's a name isn't it? Anyways, whether or not it was against him doesn't matter. All we know is it was against a powerful force. His goal might have been to get out with Diggory as soon as he felt that something was wrong, but it was at that moment of confusion and cluelessness between that Diggory was killed. Potter knew that he was on his own, and there was no time thinking about the other boy's death. All he could do was to get out of there alive.

"Do you know how scary it is to be in that situation, especially when you are powerless and can't do a single thing? Well let me tell you, it is _not_ fun. You can only imagine what it would be like in his shoes when he saw that Diggory was dead and he was alone to deal with whoever killed him."

"Okay, okay, maybe Potter did have a hard time for a bit, but he's still a show off who flaunts over his celebrity status…"

"That he witnessed the death of another or that his parents were killed by Voldemort when he was a baby," she retorted. "In all honesty, I think Harry Potter or almost anybody has enough sense to not to show off being a survivor. Being awesome at Quidditch is reasonable and obvious, but for not being killed-that requires a lot of luck and little skill when the odds are against you."

"Even if that's true, he is still lying about the status of…"

"You only have one witness of his death and no hardcore evidence of him being alive, right?"

"That's what I'm trying to say, Beifong," he said trying as best not to snap at her. "Potter is _lying_. Him being a survivor is completely different from being a complete liar."

"How do you know this Voldemort isn't dead then, hmm?"

"Because he was killed by being hit from his own killing curse after not hitting Potter. _Everyone knows this!_ "

"There might be other ways this psycho could have continued to be alive. That's why _Dark magic_ exists. He's a _Dark_ wizard," she retorts as if stating the obvious. "Magic and all that stuff is as much of a confusing blob as the outside world-" _And bending,_ she thought to herself. "No one can know _everything_ there is to know about magic and Dark magic unless you're a thousand years old. That psycho probably did something completely crazy and stupid for him to still be alive. _And before you try to open that mouth of yours trying to argue my theory,_ can it be possible? Yup. Do you want to know why? Because no one frickin knows the whole truth and no one makes an effort of actually proving the falsity of Potter with an investigation. All we can do is speculate, and my gut's been telling me that this country has something weird around it's woods."

Malfoy was looking at her with eyes glaring and brows furrowed (though of course Toph couldn't see the look on the boy's face). What she did hear from him was his exaggerated and three second sigh. "Unbelievable. To have someone from Slytherin supporting _him_ ," he muttered to himself thinking that Toph couldn't hear him. She heard.

"I don't really care if he is lying or not, waste of my time thinking about it. All I'm saying is that you can't completely rule out the possibility. You don't have enough information and no one has really look deep into what happened months ago, which is stupid since it involves a killing one way or another," she says harshly. "I would _hate_ it if my government were to be that stupid." _Because I was completely tired of Ba Sing Se._

Before Malfoy could speak and continue to argue his case, the bell rang. The Slytherin Prefect left the girl immediately, not even saying some words of parting.

One by one the students sitting in the Slytherin table left and followed the rest of the others from different houses made their way out of the Great Hall to their next classes. She sighs. It is obvious to anyone that there are high tensions between Slytherin and the rest of the Hogwarts houses. There must be many more of people like Malfoy, who stand beside stupidity such as this so-called "Blood Purity." She wondered if the seventh year Prefect follows the same ideology.

"What a bunch of crap."

Toph got up from her seat and began to walk around as much of Hogwarts as she could in one class period.

* * *

Harry was dreading from the amount of homework he is receiving today. An essay from History of Magic and Potions and now a dream journal for a whole month. All of it is just writing. He had to agree with Ron, Umbridge better not give them any homework to add onto the pile. He already hated the fact that she has to be the new Defence teacher.

Speaking of the new Defense teacher, she was sitting at her desk with that ridiculous fluffy pink cardigan on her with a black bow that doesn't match with the rest of her outfit. Once everyone finally took their seat, she smiled and greeted them, "Good Afternoon, class!"

There were a murmurs and unclear replies of "Good Afternoon" scattered throughout the classroom.

The woman shook her head in disappointment. "Tut tut. _That_ will not do. I would appreciate it if you give me a better reply than that! Now let's try this again and this time say, 'Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' Good Afternoon, class!"

"Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class rang.

"Good," she said satisfied. "Now then, wands away and quills out, please."

Umbridge took a piece of chalk and began to write on the blackboard. She titled her lecture "Defense Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles." She then proceeded to writing down the class aims for the class. After writing them all down one the board, she waiting about a minute until everyone copied aims. "Does everyone have a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

The whole class replied with a bunch of murmurs.

Just like before class began, she made sure to correct the class's response to her question the same way she corrected their reply to her afternoon greeting.

The rest of the class was just as boring as Binns. Nobody could stand her dull lecture that consisted of them looking over the same line in the book several dozen times before moving on to the next statement. Harry had already stopped paying attention to her and tried to find something else to do while the Toad went on along with the staccatoed taps of the chalk. Ron was in a daze as his unfocused eyes stared beyond the textbook in front of him. When he looked towards his right, he was surprised to see Hermione as she stared towards Umbridge. She didn't even have her textbook out and opened.

Harry tried to remember a time in which Hermione ever failed to do what was instructed from a teacher or didn't even take a peek of what was inside a book. She didn't even seem to want to answer any questions. Time passed on and Harry quickly found himself to not be the only person inside the classroom watching Hermione Granger. Those who decided to look at her were more interested in the fact that she was not participating in the class for once than reading some useless and boring chapter Umbridge was having them study.

Though it didn't take Umbridge long for her to take action. Once more than half of the class place their attention towards Hermione rather than what she was lecturing, Umbridge lowered her arm and turn towards her. "Do you have a question about this chapter?" said Umbridge.

"Not the current chapter, no," said Hermione.

"Well, we are only focusing on this chapter today, Miss…"

"Granger."

"Yes, yes, Miss Granger," the woman said. "If you have any further questions outside of this chapter, you can come see me after class."

"I do have a question," Hermione declared. "I have a question on your aims for this course."

There was a pause.

"If you read the course aims, you can see it is perfectly stated if read carefully," she answered very sweetly.

"I did read them," says Hermione. "And nothing on there says anything about _using_ the defensive spells."

Silence filled the classroom.

"Excuse me, but did I hear _using defensive spells_? Oh, no no no," Umbridge said. "Miss Granger, I can't think of a reason why you would need to _use_ defensive spells within a perfectly safe classroom."

"We're not using magic?" asked Ron.

" _Hand_ Mr…"

"Weasley."

After a short glance at the redhead, she turned her attention to two other students whose hands are in the air. One of them being Hermione Granger.

"Miss Granger, do you have something you want to ask?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes," Hermione put her hand down and continued on. "Isn't it the point of Defense Against the Dark Arts to practice Defensive spells against the Dark Arts?"

"May I ask if you are a Ministry-trained educational expert?"

"No but..."

"Then I am sorry to say that you are not qualified to decide on the purpose or any 'points' for this class. We have wise and older qualified wizards who created this excellent program of study; therefore, you will be learning about defensive spells in an environment in which it is completely safe..."

"Then what's the use in it all," Harry said out loud so that his voice carries to every corner in the classroom. "If we're going to be attack in the first place then shouldn't…"

" _Hand,_ Mr. Potter!" said Umbridge in sing-song.

However, Harry found himself ignored once he shot his hand in the air. Other students (from Gryffindor) raised their hands or spoke aloud to question the 'Professor's' intentions for this class. Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil, however were only given the same bull that Hermione was given. Harry wondered if the woman could hear herself say all those ridiculous things coming from her mouth. ' _As long as you study the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to perform the spells during the examination with satisfactory results.'_ That was one of the most dumbest things he had ever heard from the already stupid toad.

He honestly couldn't take it anymore.

"And what good is theory once up against the real world?" he questioned.

Umbridge turned to him. "This is a classroom setting, Mr. Potter. Not the real world," she replied.

"Oh yeah?" said Harry.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack mere _children_ such as yourselves?" she asked sweetly.

Before Harry could answer, another voice rang throughout the whole classroom in a sort of commanding way. "Who _doesn't_ want to attack _mere children_ such as ourselves?" He turned to the direction of the voice and was stunned to find that it belonged to a girl. A girl whose stray hairs hovered over her eyes with arms crossed and feet on the desk. A girl whose uniform holds colors belonging to the House of Snakes.

Umbridge also showed her own shock more from the question being asked and a little less from the house the transfer student belonged to. Other students were surprised from the latter reasoning. It had only been the Gryffindors who have questioned Umbridge thus far.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Who _doesn't_ want to attack _mere children_ such as ourselves?" she repeated. The woman was going to make an argument, but was stopped immediately by the same girl. "We are known to be young, naive, and inexperienced. Any dark wizard, murderer, psychopath, or whatever knows that. They could easily pull some simple hex, and the next thing you know your body is on the ground. Dead. They pull an _Avada Kedavra_ and you'd be dead in an instant."

Harry could sense the slight unease from Umbridge as she laughs nervously at the girl's words. "Now Miss…"

"Beifong."

"Yes, Miss Beifong, that's it. Now I said earlier that the likelihood for you to be in any such danger is quite small," Umbridge argued. "Therefore you will probably never have to experience such a tragedy."

"You're not denying then that it happens," said Toph. "You're not going to deny that people of our age or perhaps even _younger_ are killing targets?"

"Those are tragedies and sad, yes, but it is highly unlikely that you would…"

"Then what about the percentage of us who aren't lucky?" questioned Toph. "One of my peers during lunch informed me of a death of a student last school year. He was in his last year of Hogwarts-not yet finished with the year, and just like that he was found dead. tragedy as it may be, but a murder nonetheless. And may I ask Professor Umbridge, has the Ministry even tried to figure out the exact cause of death and a possible murderer?"

The inference made to Cedric Diggory's death made Harry's body feel heavier and the tightening of his fists tighter. The image of of green flash of the killing curse on the seventh year replayed in his mind as if it had just happened. The memory is still fresh and unforgettable. He wondered who told her of the older boy's death. The only assumption was a Slytherin, but wouldn't that mean that Slytherin fed her lies of him making things up? He knew it was still unclear of what the girl believes, but in his heart had some stupid feeling that the girl doesn't believe what the snakes are telling her, despite being a snake herself.

"And why would you need to know anything about the business of the Ministry regarding the death of the deceased student?" said Umbridge defensively.

"Are you seriously? Man, were you not paying attention at all?" she shook her head and sighed. Harry could see that the attitude and tone towards Umbridge from the student made her flinch and glare at the girl. "I'm a transfer student. A _foreign_ one at that. If word of such denial and incompetence gets home, who knows what they and the rest of the world would think. This class is a bunch of bullshit!"

Just like that, the fake sweet smiles of Umbridge were immediately replaced with narrowed eyes glaring straight into her unfocused eyes. "I will not have such foul language said to me from a mere student. You are just a small, weak child. What do you think you can do against a Professor, hm?"

"As long as it isn't illegal, anything really," she replied simply with a shrug. This earned her another glare from the Professor. "You're losing your cool, Professor."

"What are you…" The woman blinked and was reminded that the transfer student and herself were not the only ones inside the classroom. She cleared her throat with another annoying ' _hem hem'_ and forced herself to form a sweet smile. The woman grabbed a piece of parchment from her desk and began to write something down furiously. She ended with a dramatic _swish_ of her wrist to make the last period. After folding the parchment a few times, Umbridge focused her attention back to Toph.

"Take this to your head of house Professor Snape, Miss Beifong," she said with a horrid sweetness added to the girly voice.

Toph Beifong was silent, but calm knowing that she was in deep trouble. She took the folded up parchment from the Umbridge woman's hand and left the class. Their eyes so focused on her movements, even when closing the door behind her.

Harry couldn't help, but smile.

* * *

Author's Note:

I took my time with this chapter. This was actually the second time I wrote it because I didn't like the first one. I'm a lot slower when it comes to rewriting and I had school to focus on most of the week, so that's why it took quite a while. There was also the fact that I would need to rewrite the sixth chapter as well since the fifth turned out a bit differently. Consider this as a small holiday gift.


	6. Pencils Over Quills

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

The Potions classroom wasn't too far off from the Defense classroom. The only pain for Toph was that the Professor was still inside teaching a class. She touched the walls with her bare hands to get an idea of who is inside the classroom. Professor Snape was definitely inside walking around to observe the works of his students. She didn't know which year he was teaching at the moment, but that information is currently irrelevant.

She sat down and layed her back against the cool stone walls. There wasn't much she could do, so while she waited for the bell to ring and for class to dismiss she played around with her meteor bracelet. After morphing the bracelet into different shapes (a star, sphere, and a bowl to name a few), the bell signalled the end of the period. The doors that led to the inside of the dungeon classroom opened and a flood of second or third years made their way out. She waited until there wasn't a single student left inside the classroom before she entered.

The Professor was organizing the potions his students made for an assignment. He noticed Toph as soon as she took a couple steps inside. He didn't stop what he was doing nor did he look towards her direction. "What do you need, Miss Beifong?" He said in a voice that suggests her unwanted presence.

"Got myself into some trouble in Umbridge's class," Toph said as if it were something to be expected. Toph heard the man stop his work. "I don't know what this parchment says, but she wanted me to give it to you."

"I see," he said before taking the folded parchment from the Slytherin girl. He read through the note and reread it once more. He heaved a sigh of disapproval. "What stupid thing did you say or do?"

"I guess whatever the note says," she answered.

He have her a scowl, but of course the girl couldn't see it-clearly. "She says that you have been questioning her and the Ministry excessively and have brought unnecessary topics and concerns that are too morbid for a classroom setting."

"The woman _and_ your stupid government need to do better job at their...well, jobs. Umbridge clearly doesn't like talking about reality," she commented.

Professor Snape ignored her. "You were also found using vulgar language within the classroom."

"Won't deny that."

The Potions Master set the parchment paper down. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to calm himself. "You're an even a bigger troublemaker and headache than Potter and possibly the Weasley twins combined…" he paused. "No, that might be a bit of an exaggeration."

Toph shrugged. "Undercover work isn't my style," said Toph. She received a glare from the Professor. "But you know, as a babysitter, I did my job. Four eyes doesn't know how to keep his emotions at bay and was about to say some reckless things in front of the enemy. I can only guess it would be around the range of this Voldemort-" Professor Snape flinched from the sound of the name. Toph ignored him and continued. "-coming back. I just thought it would be a good idea to draw attention to myself before he does or says anything more stupid than me."

"Both were equally stupid," he mumbled. Toph wanted to make another comment, but held her tongue. She was becoming better at it over the last couple of years, but only when it's needed. She would never allow a filter for Umbridge if she weren't Ministry folk. The Potions Master stopped and stared at the earthbender for a minute as if considering her. "I won't say that your way of doing things was the best way of handling the situation, but I will try to recognize your efforts toward the Potter boy. However, I would advise that from now on to do in a way that doesn't draw attention to yourself. We don't need Umbridge or the Ministry to find the transfer student a threat, but I'm afraid Umbridge is going to be aware of you from now on because of your actions today."

Toph nodded. "Alright, but no promises. I'm not changing my mind when it comes to her class being a bunch of bullshit."

"Language, Beifong," warned the Professor. "This is one of the reasons why I was concerned with your being here. You are blunt, and it won't do you any good in your current situation. Bluntness and personality was bound to draw some unnecessary attention."

"Like I said to you and even the Old Man, undercover work was never my style," she said with an irate tone. "Actual field work is. I can sneak around and stuff, but pretending to be a regular student while not lying about who I really am wasn't something I ever did. I've pretended for _years_ to be someone who I'm not, but even so it was draining to the point I needed an outlet for my stress. I'm not changing who I am."

"I'm not telling you to change who you are, just to be more careful," the Professor explained sternly. "It doesn't matter what you are good at or what you prefer, your job is to guard Potter. Stop complaining and just listen."

" _I am Snape._ " she growled at the Professor. "I am doing my job. There were no rules as to _how_ I did my job, so I did what what first popped in my head."

He shook his exasperated. "This is why I didn't want a child to work alongside us adults."

" _I_ can't believe someone like you is a teacher. _Pathetic_ ," she made sure she enunciated the last word as best she could. "Treat your students with more consideration. You don't have to be kind and motherly or whatever crap. Hell, I drive my own students to the ground. Literally. I may have my favorites here and there, but I would always place every one of my students into consideration."

" _You_ , a _teacher_?" Professor Snape scoffed.

Toph rolled her eyes (something she practiced when she's with Sokka). "Yes, I am a teacher. I taught the Avatar and afterwards built a metalbending school. Do you know _why_? The feeling of accomplishment when you see your pupil, whom you taught do something and be something amazing because of your hard work overwhelmed me. I wanted to continue feeling that same feeling of accomplishment and pride. That's why I founded a metalbending school to teach those with _potential_ how to _be_ great. Isn't that what every teacher wishes for in their students? _To be great_?"

No one said anything after that. The Professor was silent and didn't know how to answer the young Slytherin's passion for teaching. He never expected these turn of events. He knew that his actions and bias were frowned upon by much of the staff and at times from Dumbledore, but that was because not many of them gave equal treatment to his Slytherins. It was only Professor McGonagall and a few others were regarded every student as equal. However, now that he thought about Toph's words, was this what she wanted to express her distaste for? Or was it something else?

 _Ah, I know_. "This is about Potter, isn't it?"

Toph nodded. "Disciplining and pointing out their mistakes is one thing, but to do it in a way that destroys a student is low. Even for you. Whatever this boy did to you in the past has nothing to do with the present…" Toph paused. "Or is it that he never did anything in the first place."

The Professor said nothing.

"Wow, you are _such_ a great teacher," she said with blast of sarcasm. "Man, that's just _grand_. If Potter hates you, then it's pretty much justified."

"You wouldn't understand," he sneered. "His father is exactly like him. From his looks to his arrogant personality."

"Nope. This is just your own narrow mindedness and expectations of being like his father. I don't know what his father did to you in the past, but from what I witnessed this morning, I doubt you had ever looked at Harry Potter as just _Harry_. Not the _Boy Who Lived_ crap, but just the _boy_. You can only go by the paper, books, and your bad experiences with his father, but never had you thought of him as just a normal kid.

"Because you wanna know something? _He is just another kid._ A boy who happens to be named Harry Potter."

Severus Snape once again didn't know what to say. His fists were balled up in frustration and irritation. The girl's unfocused eyes and blunt tone annoyed her. He finally was able to say some words, but they were strained with seething anger. "You have detention with Professor Umbridge every night this week."

Toph blinked. She completely forgot about the annoying woman and her punishment for her. She wondered what her detention would be like. "Uh okay," she said not sure what to say or do.

"Go to the Great Hall. You have already wasted enough of my time today," he hissed.

Toph sighed and had the urge to beat this man to the ground, but she reframed like always. She turned and made her way towards the door. No words left either one of their mouths before the earthbender shut the door behind her.

* * *

The stable air around the Great Hall shifted once the earthbender entered. At first no one took notice of her until some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs caught the transfer student from the corner of their eye. The pointing and glances spread to the Gryffindors and Slytherins. The Ravenclaws looked at her curiously. Hufflepuffs considered her, but continued to feel uncomfortable as she was in the House of Snakes. Gryffindors found her fascinating since they heard of the earlier story in Potions class, but continued to have their guard up. Then there were the Slytherins. They either showed signs of indifference and pretended she didn't exist. Toph may not be able to see the expressions of the Slytherins or those of the other houses, but she can sense the overall atmosphere.

That's the thing about being blind, you would have to use all of your other senses to compensate for the lack of sight. That was the case of Toph. She's quite sensitive to these kinds of things as much as Aang was, but of course the earthbender tend to ignore the changes in the air and continue on with life.

Toph didn't mind the change. The only time she mind is if it pose a threat to her. An intent to kill-or maim, both suck. She sat in the same place where she sat during lunch, in the very edge of the table. After eating dinner, she made her way out of the Great Hall to the Slytherin common room. The halls and passageways were quiet and not many loiter around. When she said the password at the common room's entrance, she avoided being bumped into a recently acquainted seventh year.

The older girl jumped and stumbled when she noticed the younger. Books fell out of her arms and only a few were still in her hands. It appeared to surprise Toph when Bailee didn't pay any mind to the books. Instead, the seventh year's eyes widened and looked at her intently before sighing in relief. "You surprised me there, Beifong." She brushed her long auburn hair back behind her ear and began picking up her books.

Toph lend a hand and helped pick up the fallen books on the floor. It surprised the earthbender just how thick the books were. She can only guess that they were about several pages thick while there were a few that had at most a hundred pages.

"Can you come along with me to the library?" Bailee asked.

Toph shrugged. "Sure."

They made their way down the halls to the library with each girl carrying many books in the arms. Both didn't say a thing as they made their way there. After returning the books, they went back to the Slytherin common room. Toph was expecting the way back to be as quiet as the way in, but was mistaken.

"You should be refrain from drawing attention to yourself," Bailee advised sternly. "Word of what happened earlier has made it to all four houses."

"Yeah I know," Toph sighed. She could feel the spike of irritation in her voice as she said those words. She didn't need another tiring argument with another human being. "Snape already said more than enough about that."

" _Professor_ Snape," she corrected her. "I would then like to remind you. Those with differing opinions will have a harder time in Slytherin and I'm afraid it will be worse in the long run."

"I don't give a damn about what those brats have to say about my opinions, Lynwood," Toph spat. "My reputation shouldn't matter in this school. There are only two more years left in this school, right? Shouldn't be a problem."

"That's not what I was referring to," Bailee said calmly, but seriously. They entered the common room and they went to their separate ways to their own rooms. Before Toph was too far from the older Slytherin, she said to the younger in a warning voice, "Professor Umbridge isn't the only one to look out for. Correction-she _isn't_ the one to look out for."

Toph had turned turned her way towards Bailee, but her door to her room was closed shut. There were many things she was getting used to in this unfamiliar setting. There were things she is ignorant of despite being briefed by the Old Man and Professor McGonagall beforehand. Bailee's words to her floated around in her head for the rest of the night.

* * *

The first class of the day was Herbology with Professor Sprout once again. She could get used to this class being first thing in the morning since it gave her a way to go outside when the weather was nice and cool. That's until they got into the greenhouse, but that's alright with Toph. They were analyzing some self-fertilizing plants since yesterday was just an overview of certain things with a bit of background information leading up to the next part of study. She was given two sets of five points for Slytherin in this class for her abilities and answering a question in this subject. Professor Sprout was delighted, while the Slytherins gave her disapproving looks. The Ravenclaws replied indifferently or show a hint of curiosity.

Once the first class ended, she found a crowd of students who were either sixth or seventh years crowded around the greenhouse. Toph didn't recognize any of them, and went passed them.

Transfiguration with the Gryffindors was her next class. Malfoy distanced himself from her and acted indifferent, but he would occasionally look behind towards Toph's direction. The kid may be an ignorant spoiled brat, but at least he is continuing his duty like any decent bloke should.

When the Slytherins entered the classroom, Toph made herself comfortable near the front of the class. She may hate the idea of being in the very front, but this teacher is strict. She will need to listen to everything the Professor says.

The Transfiguration Professor began with a short speech on the importance of application, practice, and study when it came to achieving an O.W.L. in this class. Her voice was stern and she looked into every student's eyes expecting all of them to pass. That will only be if they work hard of course. Neville Longbottom didn't think so, but Professor McGonagall says otherwise. From only the first ten minutes of class, she loved this Professor's attitude when it comes to teaching especially after having Snape and Umbridge yesterday.

The task for today was to use a Vanishing spell on a snail. The Professor mentioned that it was easier than a Conjuring spell, a spell that is N.E.W.T. level. Vanishing spells, however are still high in difficulty when it came to the O.W.L.'s. Toph couldn't agree more. The first few attempts were tests and confused wand waving. She couldn't tell if the snail was visible or not since she can't actually see. The Professor had to either shake her head or nod to tell her the result. Even after those few attempts, they were not there. By the third time, Hermione Granger already managed to vanish her snail. Toph ignored the girl's success and continued on with her attempts. She remembered and recited the instructions aloud. What could it be?

She then thought of Hermione's success.

The earthbender shook her head. She is _not_ going to ask help on some stupid transfiguration spell. She could do this all one her own. Toph waved her wand and tried once more. The Professor gave out another shake of the head. Toph groaned. She tried again. And again. And again.

Three shakes.

"Are you serious?" She ran her fingers viciously through her hair. She could feel the disapproving look from the elder woman, but could she honestly blame her? The subject was like a stubborn grandpa-rock hybrid. Old guys tend to be stubborn and too attached to the past to move on and accept the future, and as for the rock...well, all rock was stubborn hag. Accept, rocks only need a shove. Talking or arguing with them isn't necessary. (Thank goodness!)

Thoughts went back to the Gryffindor girl.

She sighed.

Toph got up, grabbed her tray with the snail on it and went to the Gryffindor girl's table. "Hey Granger," Toph greeted to get the girl's attention.

Hermione turned around surprised to see her. Ron glared and Harry looked at her curiously. "What are _you_ doing here?" Ron said in a low growl. _Where did the decency on the train go?_

Toph ignored him. "Granger, I was wondering if you could help me with the spell," she said through gritted teeth. Oh how much she _disliked_ asking for help.

Hermione blinked. "I-um...well. Okay. Um, are you sure?" she glanced over to the tables filled with glaring Slytherins. "The other Slytherins seem to be…"

Toph frowned. "Just ignore the idiots. Anyways, I just need a demonstration of the vanishing spell and I'll be done here."

"Don't do it Hermione, she's up to something," Ron warned.

"Oh don't be ridiculous Ron, she's just asking for help," Hermione scolded. She looked at Toph and sighed. "Alright, well, take a good look then."

Toph made sure to examine Hermione's wand and hand and its motion. Her words words that left her mouth her also important to hear. Again, the wand motion was simple and the same as her own. The voice was firm like hers, and in the end the spell succeeded and its success was confirmed from the nod of the Professor. Toph wondered what she had done wrong. The motion was the same and spell was, too. Toph thought for a moment.

"Granger," she began. "What is needed to be successful in Transfiguration?"

"Well, you need to know the words of the spell and the simple wand movement, but the wand movement doesn't really do much," the other girl replied.

"Explain?"

"The wand movement isn't what powers the wand in the way Charms is. What powers the wand would be purpose and will. Charms of course needs those two, but all it would need would be confidence. When performing Transfiguration, you need confidence _and_ purpose. Why do you need to vanish the snail. A purpose as simple as wanting to perform the spell is enough, but you need to focus on it," she explained. "Your purpose is what directs your wand movement. The movement is simple in every individual's, but if you look closely, there is a slight difference of movement each time a Transfiguration spell is performed."

Toph nodded. She understood where she was wrong. She had purpose, but she isn't allowing it to direct her wand movement. Professor McGonagall did say that one needs confidence, but she didn't say much about purpose. Maybe the purpose comes naturally that nobody really notices. Toph smiled. She realized that it was a lot like earth bending.

The earthbender got out her wand. She won't care as much about her wand movement anymore. Just let her will guide it for her. The snail is a rock, a stubborn rock. A rock that needs to vanish. Toph made one quick motion with her wand and repeated the spell firmly.

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"You did it!" Hermione clapped. "You really did it Toph! Um...you don't mind if I call you Toph, right?"

Toph shrugged. "Yeah, Toph is fine. Hermione?"

The Gryffindor girl nodded.

In the end, Hermione was awarded ten points for succeeding the spell by her third try with an additional five points for helping another student. Toph was awarded ten points for also succeeding. The points didn't matter to Toph, but she knew that she would be given a lot more points in this class in the future.

* * *

Lunch was quite pleasant. Toph asked the Charms Professor about the seating and he didn't seem to mind her sitting with his Ravenclaws. Toph went to sit beside Luna, who was humming while chewing her food. The younger girl was surprised by the earthbender's appearance, but welcomed her all the same. Toph began asking trivial questions about classes, homework, and teachers. Luna answered them simply with an extra part about unusual sounding creatures. One of them she hears a lot from them were nargles. It was weird that Toph didn't mind the small conversation between another person, especially someone she barely knew. She could only think that it's the dreamy voice the younger one possesses.

"Your voice is nice," Toph thought aloud.

"Oh thank you," Luna said. "My mother had always said that to me in the past before she died. Father would say that it calms him and described it to be mellifluous."

"It is. (Whatever that word means.) It's also calm, too. It makes me think that everything is just fine," she says. Not a hint of sarcasm could be heard from Toph. "My friends back home don't have a voice like yours. The closest soothing calming voice would be Iroh's. He's pretty old, but his muscles aren't too shabby."

"Who is Iroh?" the Ravenclaw girl asked curiously.

Toph thought for a moment. "A man who gives good advice and makes great tea."

Luna hummed. She then began asking some questions about her home and what it was like. Toph had to do some major lying in some areas, like the fact that she had to travel around the world in one year just to help fight against the Fire Nation. Other than not mentioning the some very important things, she continued through with her cover story about being rich and being home-schooled (which were obviously true). They continued to converse and eat until the bell rang for the next class to start.

Toph followed behind the familiar fifth year Slytherins to the next class which was Care of Magical Creatures. She was interested in fighting the creatures and seeing how badass they are, but inside she hoped there would be creatures like the badgermoles. Badgermoles made great company and were excellent teachers. Her mind drifted to memories of when she was young and first met those amazing creatures. _How are they doing now?_ She hadn't visited them in years. Last time would be a week before meeting Aang, Sokka, and Katara. After the war, she was busy with building and maintaining her school for metalbenders. On some occasions she would help out one of her friends, but in the end she would find herself back to the school where her students were continuing to train. It was a wonder to Toph of how long it had been since she last seen them.

Her thoughts of the badgermoles were disturbed when she noticed that the Malfoy and his usual company stopped and took their seat while keeping their laughs in the appropriate volume. She hadn't noticed that they were already in the class. Toph payed little attention to what was happening in the class with those Bowtruckles or whatever they are. What interested her was the forest that was so close to where the students are right now. An air of mystery and life could be left by Toph through her feet. She wondered if they would ever be able to go inside the forest.

Would it be similar to the Swamp? She had only been their once because Aang told her of the place having little people living there and it was filled with spirits. The first time she stepped inside the place, it felt amazing. The earth never beated so strongly of life. Toph wanted to know if the forest felt like the Swamp.

Toph raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Beifong was it?" called Professor Grubbly-Plank.

She nodded. "Will we ever be entering the forest over there?" She gestured towards the forest.

"The Forbidden Forest? There are times we do, but of course not often," she answered. "The place is quite dangerous for students like yourselves. That is why unless told otherwise, it is forbidden for students to venture into the forest."

Toph nodded. _Dangerous, huh?_

 _Why I wonder..._

* * *

The earthbender couldn't tell which was more boring: sitting in History of Magic class with Binns or hearing the same annoyances from Umbridge. Both were equally bad and boring to sit through. She ended up sleeping in the ghost's class and had to be shaken awake by none other than Malfoy. She didn't expect the Slytherin boy to wake her up, but she felt than the he understood how uninteresting the class is. He didn't really speak many words after waking her up. It was just some reminders of how this class was last period and that dinner was going to be served. After that, he went on to meet up with the usual Slytherins that follow him around.

Dinner was just as pleasant as lunch with Luna. She silently wished for her to be the History of Magic teacher just to listen to her for a whole class period. The younger girl started by telling about the things she did in Herbology. She told Toph that it was one of her favorite subjects, probably in the top three on her list. The Slytherin girl couldn't agree more and it was nice talking to her about their interest in the subject. The earth and life that surrounded them felt relaxing and...well, magical. Dinner couldn't have been better, but with tea from Iroh. Speaking of tea, Toph asked the girl if there was a tea shop near Hogwarts they could go to.

"A tea shop, hm?" the Ravenclaw girl thought hard. "There may be one in Hogsmeade, but if we can't find one the Three Broomsticks would be the next best thing. Unless you wanted somewhere quiet and relaxing that is."

"That all depends. Back home there used to be this tea shop Iroh owned called the Jasmine Dragon. It was a nice tea shop," she told the girl. Feelings of carefree and happiness filled her as she thought of her friends drinking tea. "My friends come there and laugh like a bunch of idiots. The atmosphere was nice and welcoming."

"It sounds like a nice place to be in," Luna hummed. "The Three Broomsticks I think is louder than the Jasmine Dragon. Maybe when the weekend comes, we can go around and find a nice tea shop. I've only been in one somewhere in Wales during one summer and it was pleasant."

Toph smiled. "Tea is only pleasant with good company," she said and blinked. "Woah I feel like I'm turning into Iroh."

"Is that a bad thing?" Luna asked as she tilted her head to the side.

"Iroh is a cool guy, but he's old."

Luna giggled. "Well in several decades we will, too."

"That's a long time from now and even after that many years, I'm still going to kick butt," she said as she held out her arm and flexed her bicep.

Luna nodded. "And I will continue looking for nargles."

Dinner continued on like this until it was time to head back to the common room. There wasn't much for her to do besides napping and then waking up to relax at her seat. Her homework can't be done on parchment since she can't even write. Reading isn't too much of a problem as long as it's simple. After the war, Sokka encouraged her to learn how to read so that it would be easier to communicate information with her students. There were so many characters to memorize that it was a complete chore. The grammar was pretty easy, just the number of things to memorize was. That must be why she had gotten better with memorizing.

The translation bracelet should be able to make it seem like she is listening, speaking, and reading in her native language. Speaking of the bracelet, she would have to get the spell done again within this week.

Now that she thought about it, wasn't there something she had to do this week? It didn't feel important, but at the same time it was. What did she have to do again? Yesterday she got in an disagreement with Snape during potions. After that would be pissing off that annoying Umbridge woman. That was quite the fun time. After what happened in the classroom, that stupid teacher had her take some note to Snape. "What did that note say again?" Toph thought aloud. Punishment with some pathetic reasons, but what was the punishment again? Detention? "Wait a minute…"

Detention…

"Oh right, detention."

 _Shit._

She didn't know what time she was supposed to be there, but she better start heading to that classroom before Snape is involved in any of it. Right now Toph was not in the mood to see the Potions Master just yet.

* * *

Toph knocked on the door of the Defense classroom a few times before she had to hear the sugary voice of Umbridge telling her to come inside. That girly voice of hers makes her want to puke if she hasn't yet made her point yesterday or the day before. She stood faced towards the earthbender as she entered.

"Good evening, Miss Beifong," the woman greeted.

"Evening," Toph said evenly. "So what's my punishment? Push ups?"

Umbridge shook her head. "Oh no. Giving physical exercises is unfair and complete lunacy. Not everyone is strong and it wouldn't do well for your poor bodies."

Toph could only think that this woman was downright infuriating.

The woman continued. "You will find out what you will be doing for me once you have taken a seat over there." She pointed towards a what it seemed to be a table.

Toph followed to where she was pointing and took a seat. She rested her elbows on the surface and felt a blank parchment. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she knew what she would have to do. Millions of curses flooded her mind and blasted like lightning towards both Umbridge and the parchment lying in front of her. She sincerely hoped the woman paid no mind of her expression-whatever it was. The earthbender thanked her strands of hair that covered at least some of her face.

"You are going to be writing some lines for me if that is okay with you. ' _I must know my place.'_ I suppose it is good that you didn't bring your supplies with you," Umbridge said as she glance at the empty space around the table. "You also don't need any ink. You are going to be using my quill. It's quite special." She gave a feathered quill to Toph.

The quill was long and thin. Toph touched the edge of it and pricked her finger. She could have sworn the woman was smiling down at her when she said, "Careful, Miss Beifong. It's quite... _sharp_."

There was something Umbridge was not telling her about the quill. Even an idiot could feel like something was strange just by how different from all the other quills the other students and teachers use on a daily basis. Toph touched the sides of the pointed edge carefully. She had to be careful not to cut herself again as she found the edges to be sharp as well. She then tried to imitate the way Sokka hold his writing utensils as best she could. This would be one of the few times in her life she will be writing something down without earthbending the text. She could only hope that Umbridge won't notice and just think that her handwriting was always this terrible.

Toph took a breath and began to write the first word with care.

She flinched.

The pain of something cutting open her skin stung. The cut stung and it felt deeper than when she pricked her finger. She touched the back of her right hand. There wasn't blood, but it was like the skin was in a process of healing. Even though blood was not dripping from the small wound, it smelled of a fresh cut of flesh. Toph could only wonder where the smell of blood was coming from for it was not from her finger. It was fresh and it was close.

The girl continued to write the whole sentence, not caring how fast she was writing. After finishing the sentence, she not only felt the sting of the cutting of her skin, but also the blood that was supposed to be dripping from it. The scent was stronger thankfully and she finally knows where it was coming from. Toph leaned over the parchment to get a good whiff. The smell of her blood was imprinted on the parchment's surface. The quill's point is a dagger. The ink is her blood. Finally, the parchment is her skin.

This Umbridge woman plays sick and crappy games.

Having something cut themselves up and using their blood as ink is quite the twisted punishment. Toph held the urge of getting up out of her seat and heading down the halls to the Old Man while dragging Umbridge behind her. She could do it, but it wouldn't be the best decision at the moment. This person is from the Ministry and because she is a government official, she has the ability to shut her up and make her an example. Umbridge, Fudge, and the rest of this country's stupid government will make sure I shut up whether she is a foreign student or not. They seem to care more about denying the rise of some lunatic than the safety of their own people.

Toph continued writing each sentence as fast as she could and taking a break after the pain has settled. She continued on and on as the quill repeated the process of slice and heal. Slice and heal. She couldn't remember how many times she had to do this. The earthbender couldn't remember how many times she wrote the same sentence while letting the stings from those wounds reopen so many times.

It wasn't before long that the woman decided it was time for this punishment to end. "Come here," she said as she waved her hand over.

Toph placed the quill down. She touched the area of her hand where the quill decided to pick up the blood. The Slytherin girl had to touch the healing skin gently for the surface was tender.

She went up to meet Umbridge, who held out her own hand. "Hand."

The earthbender absolutely hated the touch of his woman. Her stubby fingers full of rings felt cold and disgusting against her hand. She really wanted to knocked this woman out cold.

"Tut, tut, it seems you have yet to learn," said Umbridge as she shook her head. "I suppose that will be okay for now. I will be seeing you once more tomorrow evening. have a good night."

Toph left the room without a straight face without a word getting past her lips. The halls were very quiet and from where she was standing, her footsteps were the only sounds made down the hall. It had be very late for this hall to be so cool and silent. How long did Umbridge keep her in that classroom all to cut herself? All Toph knew is that right now it was late and she needed to get some rest.

She wondered if that woman was serious about keeping her this late at night.

* * *

Author's Note:

This took a bit longer than I expected and I apologize, but _finals_! _**Finals**_ , man! They are done (for this semester). I'll be starting the next one next week, and man, let me tell you how much I'm not looking forward to it. You can expect slower updates. I apologize in advance.


	7. Earthbending

Disclaimer: I do not own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

What happened during detention shouldn't be kept from the Headmaster or the rest of the staff at Hogwarts.

 _Not for now, at least._

It wasn't until she woke up in the morning and ate breakfast that she decided to keep her time in detention to herself until later. She might be able to use this time she has with the plump Professor to do some digging around. That so-called ' _professor'_ and Toph are the only ones inside the Defense classroom, so sneaking and digging through her things will be easier. There aren't other preying eyes waiting for some excitement to appear before them. They would take notice of certain actions the earthbender would be doing. All the Slytherin needed to do is give a distraction that would make Umbridge leave the room momentarily. After that, it will be up to her to do some snooping.

The Old Man need not know of this little information gathering she will be doing. The man is the Headmaster and his number one priority is to his students. (That and the fact that the old man gives off this weird 'I know everything' vibe, so telling him is just a waste of her breath). Whether allowing Umbridge to continue with this sort of sick punishment could become beneficial for the Order, the price would be the safety of the students. Though the likelihood of this to actually happen is quite low, Toph would rather do this whole thing on her own anyways. She doesn't need permission from a geezer to do her job, and as long as he doesn't say 'no' she could do whatever the hell she wants.

The long night detentions begin and end around the same time. Toph was surprised to find herself able to do her planning and homework assignments for all of her teachers.

Unfortunately, the earthbender found herself having a difficult time concentrating. Her bedtime may be later, but the time for breakfast is still the same. It was stressful trying to do her assignments (majority of which are speeches). She had to skip her meals to do all the assignments and then sneak into the kitchens to grab some food from the house elves.

It surprised her to find them happy to serve, but it didn't take long for her to snap out of it and went on with her life.

She found herself hungrier each day and the elves would find the girl sneaking to the kitchens after the long detentions with Umbridge.

She needs to be replaced.

No...it needs to be worse.

She needs to meet her right fist.

Then she may go on her merry way.

The woman was pushing her limits with these long night detentions. Toph may not be able to see herself (she can't see anything, _duh!_ ), but she swears on her earthbending that her eyes must look all pouchy. Iroh and Sokka told her that after Toph experienced several long days of dead tired and short nights of sleep. Though that time may not feel as bad as the night now, but hell, it was close. (Luna later commented the same thing as Iroh and Sokka had said in the past.)

Friday is finally here.

 _What a good day to be alive._

She took that back, and with good reason, too.

This (possibly) ugly and putrid woman did her usual routine of greeting her and giving her that stupid quill, but this was like no other from this week. Oh no, this was worse than any night she had experienced with this infuriating woman.

It was _longer_.

Toph swore that the woman was doing this on purpose to break her into little bitty pieces that even ticks such as herself would need billions of them just to have a small snack. The earthbender's patience and temper breaks more and more after each minute.

She was tired.

She was tired of being in the same room of this woman. She was tired of cutting herself open and writing those ridiculous words all over her.

' _I must know my place,'_ Toph repeated in her head and tried to hide the urge to laugh. I _should know my place? Well you piece of turtle duck dung, I know at least one of us doesn't._

After many hours this night is spent with Umbridge, Toph felt drops of blood dripping on the parchment she is writing on. Her hand was trembling from the constant ripping of skin night after night. She knew that if Katara were to find _anyone_ cutting up their own wounds, she would be in hysterics. Toph would mind the waterbender ripping the door to shreds and freezing Umbridge only for her to be defrosted with that crazy Azula's vicious flames. That would be a show Toph would _love_ to see.

She would then ask her little junior lily metalbenders to avenge their master and give that plump woman hell. Toph might even cry after seeing how much they care. They love her so much!

Toph knew, however that it was not the time to unleash her wrath and waste it all right this second. She may not have taken anything useful (she honestly wouldn't know) while Umbridge went outside for her distraction, but it was fun having Umbridge frustrating for not being able to find some of her books and documents. She had lay her head over her crossed arms that were on her desk to stifle her little giggle fits from the entertainment. That was only possible the day after she took her books and the fact that she had the class first period that day. Umbridge had to buy some new books after that.

Toph had stopped since she was too tired to create any distractions. She had to continue with the stupid detention.

The only good thing about this one in particular is that it is the last one.

After a while of more cutting and blood dripping, Umbridge called her up to the front once again to examine her hand. The earthbender placed the quill down on the desk. While she made her way up, she made sure to accidentally knock the quill over. That sharp piece of trash was now on the ground.

Umbridge took her hand and Toph tried not to groan aloud. The woman touching her scarred hand was creepy and disgusting just like the first time. _Are you_ done, _yet?_

Umbridge must be satisfied and said, "Your hand must hurt now, doesn't it?"

Toph sneered. _Well now, when did you get so smart?_

"Alright then, at least you understand. You may be on your way."

Toph nodded silently.

She made her way to the door, and stretched her arms out as high as she can. The girl was lucky the woman was paying attention to her right now and not in the area around her desk. Toph then put her right hand down, so now it is her left arm that is being stretched out right now. She then stretched her left hand and with a swift movement that looked like more hand stretching, Toph heard the impact of a sharp object hit the blackboard. Umbridge shrieked and fell backwards, falling on her bottom.

"Wha-what just…"

Toph turned around and pretended to look concern. "What's wrong?"

"The...the quill...it moved!" She was pointing at the stuck quill pathetically with a trembling arm.

"Professor, I'm dead tired and so must you be," she said with a bored and drowsy tone. "You must be imagining things."

Umbridge continued to stare at the quill and nodded. She was trembling. "Y-yes…"

"Then good night, Professor." Toph left the Defense classroom. Once the door of the classroom was shut, she lift up a hand and swooshed it up and down then side to side. Excruciatingly irritating and cringe-worthy sounds of scratching the blackboard from within the classroom were audible. The high pitched shrieks of fear soon overtook those scratching sounds. Toph couldn't help but have her lips form a grin as large as Aang's.

"Music to my ears."

* * *

Knowing that there was no more detention or any classes to bother with sounded almost as nice as getting a mudbath. Almost.

There were some things she had to sort out with the Old Man before readying herself with the next week of classes and homework. She was the first one to wake up in the Slytherin dorm, and so she made her way to the Headmaster's office. It was nice to roam around the corridors when there isn't anyone around. She preferred to be in the presence of any familiar beings or people looking for a fight but, it was nice to know she could find some peace and quiet once in awhile.

When she made her way to the office, she went on to speak of some important things that needed to be shoved into whitebeard's head. "First off, drop me out of astronomy," were her first words. The Old Man insisted that she might as well learn as much as possible of magic if she will be staying in this weird place for a while.

Magic? Please.

All that class is is looking at constellations up in the sky and doing stuff with star maps and identifying things in the sky. In other words, it was a class that _needed_ eyes. Tonks is smart and thought of using rocks and pieces of stones to her with making out different constellations, but did the Old Man honestly think she could use any of that knowledge? Nope. After a concise speech of astronomy's uselessness for a blind girl, the Old Man reluctantly agreed.

The Headmaster did explain why he thought it would be good for her to take this class. He said that the that he and some of the staff would have to explain to the other fifth year students of why she is taking less classes than her. Toph only made a retort saying that the students needed to learn how to suck it up and that at the very least they could actually see. The Old Man only responded with a light-hearted and amused laugh. The earthbender rolled her eyes before showing a grin.

No Astronomy, check.

"Is there anything else you need?" asked Dumbledore.

Toph nodded. "I know I'm not exactly an ' _official'_ member of the Order and all, but I was thinking that I could be of some use to you during the weekends. Not to mention that I have two less classes compared to all the other students in my year."

"Ah, but you already are," said the Old Man. "You are keeping tabs on Harry, aren't you not?"

That's true. She's been making sure Harry isn't out of her range except when their classes are a very far distance apart. Other than that, she's keeping an eye on him-whether she meant to or not. "True, but don't you think you might need some extra help from me? I could do some scouting?"

The Old Man stayed silent for a moment before responding. "What do you need Miss Beifong? It is unlike you to take the long route instead to going straight to the point."

 _Figures_. "Can't help a blind girl from trying," she sighed. "I want to fight. I can't keep still for even a week. The only time I was able to release some of my stored energy was to scare Umbridge. As much fun I had scaring the hell out of her, it's not as fun as kicking my an enemy ass or at least a training room that gives off the same feeling."

"Hm…" The Old Man stroked his beard. "Well, I'm sorry to say that I can't help you with that, but if you need to release some of that energy, I would suggest you use the Room of Requirement. It is a room that is founded on the seventh floor corridor on the left side, but it will only show itself to witches and wizards who need it. If you need a place to fight and train, it will give it to you. In addition, not many know of this room, so it is a perfect place for you to earthbend as much as you wish."

"That sounds convenient. A room that gives you whatever you need," mused Toph.

"Though of course there is some limitations. You can't expect food to appear if you ask for it and other things," the Old Man added.

Toph nodded. "Got it. Thanks."

"You are more than welcome."

Before making her way to the exit, she said, "I'm ready, you know, anytime you need me to kick some butt. You might be powerful and all, but you're still old."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"I also wanted to add that I stole some papers and books from the annoying piece of dung while in detention. Don't worry, I stole with class, Old Man. She doesn't know it was me. Anyways, do you want me to give it to you?"

The bearded elder stroked his long beard eying the girl before him. He wouldn't know if the documents of Dolores Umbridge that she had stolen are of any use, but who is to say they aren't? The Headmaster thought on this for several more seconds before saying, "Very well, but give the documents to Severus and Minerva as homework. It is best not to attract any unnecessary attention with the exchange of papers and information."

Toph smirked.

This little mission of her's can be quite exciting.

* * *

Later that day she went outside and followed Harry and Ron (without them knowing of course) to the Quidditch Pitch outside. She didn't wish for herself to be revealed to them, so she made herself comfortable below the bleachers where she could still hear their voices and be as close to the ground as possible. There was no way she was going to make her way through that chunk of wood. The weather was nice and Toph was hoping that this was going to one relaxing day. That's until the rest of the Gryffindor team showed up and began practicing together. That wasn't the worse part. The worse part was when she heard the Slytherins coming in with their laughter and jeering. She even heard Malfoy, his goons, and the Little Missy.

She wanted them to shut up.

She wanted them to leave.

Toph took in a deep breath and sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose with complete annoyance of the constant jeering her house is producing. Loud chants of " _Gryffindors are losers! Gryffindors are losers!"_ are ringing like annoying buzzing mosquitoes in her ears. It is worse for her since her ears are oh so sensitive. Toph wondered if there was a spell for shutting these little skinny bones up. Alas, she has no knowledge of such useful spells and hexes. What a darn shame.

Then Toph remembered that the Granger girl has a good head and maybe she could find a way to shut her house up. That is quite a brilliant plan she thought of, only if the bright girl is sitting in the stands in the first place. Toph sighed. She might as well try. The ringing pesks are giving her a real headache.

She made her way up the stands as carefully as she could. There is no need for her to rush in this situation. The railing, steps, and flooring are all made of solid wood, material she could never use to see. Toph really hoped that Granger was amongst the onlookers. She made her way away from the loud jeering and called out her name. "Hermione!"

There is no reply, so she tried again.

"Hermione!"

Toph's hands were tight on the railing as she made her way farther away from the jeering. She let her hands guide her as she continued to call out the girl's name, but with no response to it. Toph muttered curses under her breath. "Don't tell me she isn't here."

"I am afraid she isn't," said a familiar dreamy voice.

Toph turned her body, but made sure she had at least one hand on the railing. "Luna?"

"That is my name, yes." Toph could feel a warm smile coming from the girl.

"I'm surprised you're here," Toph said. "I would like to talk, but I need Hermione to do something for me. Do you know if she is near the Quidditch pitch?"

"I'm afraid she isn't. She is most likely in the Gryffindor Common room or in the Library I believe," she supplied. "If you would allow, my I ask what it is that you need?"

"I need a way to shut my house up," Toph replied immediately. "My ears and head cannot take it. If this continues, I'm gonna end up doing some damage if I were to put it lightly."

Luna nodded in understanding. "I see. I can't help you since the only spell I know that will help would be to block sound coming into your ears, but I know that won't do you any good. Your ears are what help you see faces after all."

Toph nodded.

"You could just leave the stadium, you know, or do you have some task you need to do?"

Toph blinked, and then she gave out a chuckle. _This girl is sharp,_ she mused at the thought. "Something like that, more like finding a place to relax, though. I didn't think my house would waste their pleasant morning taunting their rival borderline enemy. Honestly, it's a bunch of bear dung."

"It's quite sad isn't it," Luna agreed.

They continued to hear the jeering and found it targeting the Gryffindor Keeper, a Weasley it seems. Toph wondered if it is the same Weasley she first met on the train. It could be, but she didn't feel too much of anything involving the best friend of Potter. He is narrow-minded, an idiot, quick to judge, and a whole lot of other things. While the earthbender shrugged indifferently, Luna held a different reaction towards the jeering.

"Please don't listen to their words," are Luna's words. "You can do it!"

Toph cocked an eyebrow. "Luna?"

"He may have done a lot of wrong, but no one deserves the jeers and lies of others. It is not something I want, anyway," Luna simply said. She continued to cheer the Keeper on, but Toph doubted he or the other Quidditch players could hear with how loud the jeers are.

Toph sighed. She asked for a way to silence her house of their annoying and out of tune voices, and she could very well do it on her own. She is honestly becoming too much of a softly thanks to her pupils. She tried to face Luna. "Do you have something that I could throw?"

"I do," Luna took her hand and placed a rock. The rock is rough and it is roughly the size of her palm. "I thought I could try to earthbend before you teach us, but it seems that it is a lot harder than I thought. What are you going to use it for?"

"Shutting the snakes up."

"Oh."

"I'm not going to hurt them," she added. "Maybe."

Toph could feel a look of curiosity coming from the younger girl.

"The thing about a rock is that it is a very stubborn element. Think of it like an old man. Even this piece of rock is stubborn like a boulder, but of course the bigger guy is more troublesome," Toph began and explained the element. "Just like with a boulder, you need to push and break the immobile earth to make it move. Watch."

Toph threw the rock up in the air, and positioned her arms out. She waited a few seconds and brought her palms together with a loud bang as the impact crushed the rock into smaller pieces. One by one the remnants of the rock fall and landed on the wooden flooring. If Toph did it right, then the size of each piece should be the size of a sickle coin. From the sounds of the rocks landing there are about eight pieces. Eight is just enough for her.

"This is an exercise I would start with complete noobs, whom I don't know of their talents. Best be watching, Luna."

"I understand, Sifu Toph."

Toph cracked a grin. She's glad that the girl remembered the name used for a teacher. She had forgotten how amazing it felt for one of her pupils to call her that. Sifu...there is such a pleasant ring to that word.

"You better!"

Toph got into a standard, but firm stance with her feet shoulder-width apart, toes and torso forward, one foot in front of the other and fists down in front. She lifted one fist up slowly and stepped forward with a punch. The jeers coming from the Slytherins ceased and out came shrieks instead. Toph would have grinned and laughed, but knowing that those folks are in the same house as her meant that she's in a house full of weak pansies. Her house is indeed a pathetic bunch.

Toph continued to her next movement and broke out of her stance. Her feet are still shoulder-width apart, but one foot is not farther than the other. Her tight fists are now open and she continued to make fluid gestures using only her hands, as she maneuvered all eight rocks. The area filled with her housemates are in a panic and they made a run for it trying not to get hit by the rocks. Toph asked Luna the positions of the rocks and where they are heading. As annoyed she is with the taunts and jeers coming from the mouths of her house, those of the younger years did not do much wrong. They are influenced like the upper years, but the thought of scaring some random brat doesn't sit well in her stomach. She continued on with the flying rocks.

Minutes later, Toph thought playtime is over, and led the house of snakes towards the steps. The majority ran away from the pitch followed by several rocks following them. On the other hand, there are still two more being continued by Toph's left hand that are in control of a few Slytherins.

"Where are they?" asked Toph.

"The rocks are heading straight to their heads if they are to continue with that course," Luna answered.

Toph nodded and sent the rocks flying as fast as they could, missing the stranded slytherins by a few degrees. The rocks two holes on the floor according to Luna.

Toph relaxed both hands and cracked her fingers. Toph sighed and listened to her surroundings. There is nothing to hear. Silence filled the stands and Quidditch pitch. Toph smiled. This has always been one of her favorite sounds.

It surpasses even the shrieks and cries of Umbridge.

* * *

Harry and Ron headed back to the Gryffindor Common room through the portrait and was met with Hermione with a book in hand who asked, "How was practice?"

They both turned to each other, not sure what to say. Quidditch Practice _was_ lousy, with all of those Slytherins jeering and chanting as loudly as possible. Harry tried his best to focus on Quidditch, but of course he was worried about Ron who couldn't focus at all. The more his friend messed up, the louder the snakes' jeers become. He wanted to grab on of the bulgars and plument Malfoy just to shut him up and hopefully the rest of them would follow suit. However, for once his mind did the right thing and continued with practice like normal.

But honestly, he wished he could have broken Malfoy's nose. He wanted to shut them all up and have them leave his team alone, but they're Slytherin. There is no way they would leave and not interrupt and distract them from _their_ practice.

That all changed when he heard of startled cries. He didn't pay any mind at the time since he could only think that it might have been another trick of theirs to distract him with. It wasn't. The cries were genuine, and he only turned when he saw that Fred and George stopped and flown a bit closer to the stands with curiosity and delight all over their faces. They were sniggering and Fred (or was it George?) pointed toward the stand.

That's when he turned and saw the sight.

Terrifying was one word to put it. Rocks were flying and aiming at random Slytherins and sometimes those who weren't of that house. They flew and chased with various speeds and changed their velocity more than he could count. They dashed and made the third, fourth, and even fifth year Slytherins scream. Some older years got out their wands to destroy the possessed rocks, but even though the rocks turned into smaller pieces, those smaller pieces continued to chase them. Many went and escaped, but there were many rocks still chasing them. Malfoy and his goons remained as they were being targeted specifically.

The rocks then went into their maximum speeds straight towards Malfoy's nose. It was very unfortunate that it missed by a hair and left part of the stands damaged instead. He could hear the disappointment from the rest of his team, too, especially the twins and Ron.

The sight was terrifying as it was beautiful.

But its beauty surpassed the terrifying nature.

It was then that he noticed two familiar figures facing towards the stands of where the crowd of Slytherins had once jeered. Luna Lovegood with her curious and focused, dreamy eyes, and right in front of her was Toph Beifong, a Slytherin.

He remembered the Slytherin transfer telling him and his friends of her earthbending on the train to Hogwarts. He was skeptical as was his friends. When they asked around the school if others had felt the earthquake, they received many looks which added onto his own discredibility. They then thought the earthbending business was all a prank, but they could deny the shaken train car. All they know is that the cause of it was definitely Toph Beifong.

Neville and Hermione didn't know what to make of the girl as was Harry. Ginny is always on her guard, but she didn't express the degree of distrust and spite as Ron. In the beginning, perhaps, but she became as unsure as himself when he and Hermione told her of when the Beifong girl defended him against Snape. Not only that, she also asked help from Hermione, a muggleborn and Gryffindor of all people a Slytherin could ask! Ron continues to say that she is just planning something, but Hermione went up and defended her as soon as Ron started something. He…

He doesn't know what to think.

Harry had never known a Slytherin to be as decent, as straightforward, and as demanding as the transfer. She wasn't like Snape who belittled him and straight up never gave him a chance. She wasn't like Malfoy and the rest of Slytherin who thought of themselves superior because of their blood. Most of all, she was the first person who didn't seem to one-hundred percent believe his claim of Voldemort returning, but she didn't deny it either. Instead, she made it seem as if it were a strong possibility worth considering. He would have never thought there was someone who could just say that it was a strong possibility. She wasn't even from Hogwarts until this year or from this country to begin with!

Harry honestly didn't know what to think considering the girl.

"Practice was...I really don't know."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow.

Ron on the other hand just gawked at him. "You don't know? You _don't know_? Mate, Slytherins were running and screaming from flying rocks! How could you not know what to feel about it?"

Hermione closed her book shut and sat up straight. "Wait _what_? Flying rocks? What exactly happened during practice?"

Ron and Harry explained the whole event starting with the flying rocks followed by the screams coming from the Slytherins. Hermione listened the whole time, but the girl couldn't help but shake her head full of disbelief. "So you mean to say that rocks just come flying out of nowhere to hurt the Slytherins?"

"No one was hurt, Hermione," assured Harry. He could see the horror in his friend's eyes. "There were two rocks coming at Malfoy, but they missed by a few centimeters."

"A disappointment I say," added Ron.

"Ron, please! As much as I dislike Malfoy and the way the Slytherins acted, people could have gotten hurt. Harry even said that some students from other houses got involved!"

"It was only for a while, and then they changed course," said Harry. "It seems the person controlling the rocks didn't know they were involving those from other houses and changed the course of some of the rocks towards the Slytherins."

"So it was just the Slytherins?"

" _Just_ the Slytherins, Hermione? These Slytherins are all scum, and you know it…"

"Ron!" Hermione was beginning to lose her patience with the red-head.

"Actually, now that I think about it, the targets were only the middle and upper years. The first and second years were never targeted directly," said Harry.

"So what?" sneered Ron.

"Ronald!" Hermione yelled. "I swear to you that if you have one more comment the Slytherins with no argument behind it, I _will_ hex you! And before you say anything, yes I know most are awful, and yes most have already called me that awful word, but contrary to popular belief Ronald Bilius Weasley, not all of them are evil!"

"Just because they are still brats, doesn't mean they aren't sly and evil, Hermione," argued Ron.

"Will the both of you give it a rest?" Harry almost screamed, but it turned into a steady loud voice. He was more irritated with Ron in this argument as he is still sorting out his thoughts surrounding Beifong. "There also something else I want to add, and Ron, just listen. You have your doubts, but I need time to think."

The redhead didn't anything more about the argument, but he was mumbling something under his breath.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I think this is the Beifong girl's doing."

Silent spread amongst the three.

"What!" Ron yelled and full of disbelief. "Mate, that can't be true. She's a snake!"

"Wait Ron let's listen to Harry," she shushed Ron. "Why do you think it was her...could it be…"

Harry nodded.

"What are you guys on about?" asked Ron. "Usually it's Hermione who knows everything."

"Ron, remember that earthquake we felt on the train to Hogwarts?" said Hermione. "Toph said that she used earthbending to make that earthquake that could only be felt by our train car. Could she have also done the same thing with the rocks?"

"Earthbending? It sounds cool and all, but I've never heard of earthbending," said Ron.

"None of us have, but what other explanation is there? Yes it could have been the work of a wand, but the both of you saw destroyed rocks still move and flying," Hermione reminded. "We should ask Toph about this. She did say that she would teach us how to earthbend."

Ron scoffed. "Right, we should ask the snake herself."

"I think Hermione's right, Ron," said Harry. Both of his friends blinked. Ron couldn't believe his ears, and Hermione was just surprised. "I want to know exactly who Toph Beifong is."

He really did.

* * *

Author's Note:

I was expecting myself to update in late May instead of late March. I'm not as busy right now due to some circumstances, but I will be again in the beginning and middle of April. So bare with me, and I will do my best with updating.

Anyways, thank you for reading and being patient with me.


	8. Garments

Disclaimer: I do not own either "Harry Potter" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

There was never a year she could remember sitting in the Ravenclaw table eating her meal with pleasant company. It wasn't that her fellow housemates are bad people or not good company at all, but there was no one to talk to about nargles and all the interesting creatures at Hogwarts. The majority of the students at Hogwarts have already deemed her as Loony, except for Ginny Weasley. The redhead is a very pretty and pleasant girl. She gives off quite a daring air, especially after first year. Being with Ginny made her feel like she had made her first friend. But having said that, Luna knows that even girls such as Ginny can't see and believe the things she does. The girl may listen to her about various topics, but she feels the girl isn't at all interested. Luna very much appreciates the girl's patience and attempts to understand, but it would be nice to have an all out discussion on nargles, heliopaths, and of the sort.

Still, that didn't change the fact that there isn't anyone who wants to talk about the creatures at the Ravenclaw table. It is quite a pity. Ginny is a Gryffindor just like all of her other siblings, and the redhead has other friends to talk to in that table. Luna could very well just eat her lunch in other places to find nargles, but eating a meal is much more enjoyable with company. Even if she could only make small talk with her fellow Ravenclaws, that was enough to be a pleasant meal.

It all changed when Toph Beifong came to Hogwarts as a transfer student. When she first met her in the train, Luna could feel that the presence of this girl could very well change not only her life at Hogwarts, but perhaps the school as a whole. Toph gave off an air of strength and straightforwardness. Luna had thought that the girl would definitely be put into Gryffindor with Ginny and her other siblings, but that was when Luna took a good look at the girl and realized there was something else inbedden within her. The girl wearing radish earrings realized that the transfer has a passion for teaching.

When it was time for Toph to get sorted into her respective house, Luna recalled how stunned her friend had been when the result was given. Ginny, Harry, and their other friends thought that Toph would be sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of them. Luna made the same mistake, too, but she then fixed it after a few minutes of careful observation and listening. Luna only smiled when Toph made her way to the table cladded with green and silver. Her friend may not know it, but it was a house that fitted the transfer just fine. She knew that the house that are known for its pure blooded snakes would do well with the refreshing Toph. Luna knew that Hogwarts was going to be interesting.

What she didn't expect from Toph was to find her sitting at the Ravenclaw table to converse with her. Luna was very much surprised, but she was delighted. She never knew what it was like to have someone to talk to on a regular basis during a meal. She has always been curious, and now that Luna has finally experienced this, she has to say that it is almost as if she has a friend to enjoy a meal with. It is such a warm and pleasant feeling, even now as she talks to Toph about her beetle wing earrings there is a feeling of having a friend. It is a bit different from when she is with Ginny, but both are as pleasant as can be.

There are many things Luna wishes to talk to Toph about, but she knows that it isn't the time. Luna can live with no answers. Besides, she will soon be learning earthbending from the girl, and isn't that not wonderful? She would ask Toph more about it, but the girl seems to be running late.

It is then that Luna sensed a familiar girl approaching and taking a seat next to her. The girl heaved out a sigh as she rubs her temples in an attempt to relax herself.

Luna smiled at her. "Were you meeting with Professor Snape?"

Toph blinked. If the dark haired girl could see, Luna would have felt the girl's eyes boring into her own. "Is it obvious?"

"Quite."

"Hm...well you're half-right. I met up with Professor McGonagall first before confronting that bummer."

"Does this have anything to do with Professor Umbridge?"

Toph was silent for a moment. She didn't say a word for a whole two minutes. "The fact that you know everything is creepy, but for some reason reassuring. Has anyone told you that?"

Luna shook her head. "No. You're the only one it seems."

Toph nodded. "And let me guess, you know why I went to those two professors and how Umbridge has anything to do with it."

"I have some thoughts, yes," Luna said dreamily. "I believe I am correct, and that truly makes you a very kind person, Toph."

Toph laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You are you know," Luna insisted. She then looked down at Toph's forearms covered by her sleeves and some bandages. "Was it painful?"

Luna knew the answer already, and wasn't sure if Toph would lie or not. It was a relief that Toph chose not to.

* * *

It was honestly just Harry's luck that he found himself a week's worth of detention. This would be his first time in detention with that horrid woman, and he was honestly not looking forward to it. As the evening got closer and the time to head to the Defense classroom got nearer, he felt the need to plan against her. It was until Hermione came into the Common room that that his planning ceased. She went and walked quickly towards him with a couple of books on hand.

"Harry," she began with panted breath. "Professor McGonagall told me to tell you that you're not going to have detention with Umbridge. Isn't that great?"

Harry's eyes widened.

Ron, who was sitting next to him couldn't believe it either. "He's not going to have detention? Why? Not even the most goody-toe-shoed first year could persuade the teachers to let them off!"

"I didn't say that he isn't going to have detention, Ron. Harry is going to have detention with Professor Snape instead," she clarified.

Harry's eyes narrowed. "He's as bad, if not worse than that woman."

Hermione huffed. "There's no use complaining, Harry. Professor McGonagall couldn't convince Umbridge to change unless it was Professor Snape."

"Ron is she going out of her way to do that? You know, change teachers," asked Ron.

"I don't know. The Professor just said it was for Harry's own good," said Hermione. "Though, I'm getting the feeling that Umbridge's detentions can't be considered humane."

"Don't tell me she actually hurts the students!"

"I don't know, Ron. The only answers we can get are from the professors. Professor McGonagall wouldn't answer them and I know Professor Snape wouldn't like to answer any of our questions either. Maybe someone besides the professors know, like, a student or…!" Hermione's eyes widened as a realization dawned to her. She shakes her head. "Of course! How can I be so stupid?"

"What is it?" asked Ron.

"It's Toph! I mean, it has to be!" The golden girl's bright eyes glowed, but they were met with skeptical and confused looks from her two friends. It's not that they don't believe a thing she says, but they weren't too sure about Beifong girl. This is especially true for the redhead. "Think about it, the both of you! Toph is the only one we know for sure to get a detention with Umbridge, whole week's worth of detention. She must have experienced something during last week to request help from Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. But I wonder what Umbridge could have done to her...it must have been bad."

"That snake could have set this up so that Harry will have detention with Snape instead, you know," is Ron's thought.

"That's highly improbable, Ron, we won't know for sure unless we go up to Toph and ask her about it. What do you think Harry?"

What did he think in this situation? Harry is still unsure with Toph Beifong, but he thinks there is nothing to lose if they planned to confront her. He still plans on talking to her about...everything. He doesn't trust her, but he will give the transfer student a chance seeing as he might have been too unfair. Harry still thinks that Slytherins are deceptive and will always have an ulterior motive, but he will accept the fact that he might be wrong when he talks to Toph. "I think we should find time to talk to her. I still need some time to judge her, though."

"Good. Should we all schedule a date and ask her tomorrow then?"

* * *

Toph loved every minute of being in the old witch's Transfiguration class. She loved how the teacher doesn't take anyone's trash, including an annoying woman by the name of Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge, with her supposedly horrible fashion sense is a complete earsore. The earthbender had the urge to wrap the woman around the stone floors of the classroom from her constant ' _hem hem.'_ She is only glad to find Professor McGonagall is able to keep the woman's mouth hushed for at least a while. Toph knows she can't ask too much, though it would be nice if the Professor could hex the woman instead, or better yet allow the one and only to do the honors.

Speaking of hexing, a certain supposed redhead seemed ready to attack _her_ right in the decent morning. However, he and Potter were hiding in a corner believing that she didn't notice their presence and them eavesdropping. She must say, they were fairly lucky that she isn't stupid enough to do any large-scale or obvious earthbending where people might hear. Toph may be in a corridor where not many students are in sight, as it was time for breakfast, but any tricks from her would catch the ears and possible eyes from any roaming students. There were many eyes and ears around this area, only Weasley, Potter, and Hermione who called out to her this morning. She didn't know at the time what she had in mind or why she called her out in the first place, but Toph didn't think it to be bad. She had some time to spare, and Luna often doesn't get to breakfast until it's at least fifteen minutes before first class.

The one who called to out was Hermione. Toph wondered what the girl's business was, but knew it had something to do with the Potter boy if it had to be anything. She found her prediction to be correct as the Gryffindor girl voiced her suspicions when talking about the Potter boy having detention with Professor Snape rather than Umbridge. She also voiced her concern with Professor McGonagall since she was acting seemingly hostile towards Umbridge, which was out of character considering the professor's professionalism. Only those who were observative could tell that something had happened between the now High Inquisitor and Gryffindor's Head of House. It was only expected that Hermione would find it odd and who would voice it.

She must also be the one who remembered that Toph is the only one to ever get detention from Umbridge. Toph doesn't know for sure, but it matters not right now. She only hopes that if that weren't the case then at least if they get kicked into detention by Umbridge, no one has to deal with that woman. At least for now at least.

Toph did admit to Hermione that it was all her doing convincing them to take on the detentions Umbridge has placed, but it took a her quite some time as to explain why. There was no need for any of the students to know of what happens during detention. Granted it isn't the worst thing in Toph's opinion, but the fact that the woman's a teacher and she's doing it to her own students is what made Toph's blood boil. The only ones who know of what happens during detention are the Old Man, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Luna. Toph didn't want Luna to know, but that younger girl was ever observative and sharp. She couldn't believe it at first when she found out her nickname was Looney, but it is only the fault of others who do not know the talents one possesses and makes presumptions.

That being said, it is good that only Luna knows and can piece most of the puzzle. Hermione is also trying to piece it together, but no one has noticed the bandages her wears around her palms and forearms. Toph thinks it helps that she usually wears them every once in awhile, and that she wore them coming on the train. Nobody seem to notice that she didn't wear them the next day, maybe except for Luna, and then the following day and onward she wears them almost all the time. It really was good that Hermione didn't take notice of how it pieced with the puzzle. Thanks to that, giving a lie was easier.

"The woman thought it's a great idea to sleep deprive her students for no good reason. We're in school, and the teachers should make it so that we can at least focus in class instead of turn dead the next day." Toph shakes her head angrily, not for the reason Hermione believes. "I don't think you understand how much I wanted to break her neck for making me lose sleep."

Hermione looked at her with concern in her eyes. "I can only imagine. I would never go less than eight hours of sleep for more than a night. Are you okay?"

The earthbender nods, appreciating her concern. "Everything is settled now thanks to Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. They are both efficient and competent in dealing with her."

"I see, that's good." Toph could tell from Hermione's tone that she wanted to ask something, but didn't. She felt a slight sense of relief.

"I know this is out of the blue, but could you meet with Harry in private? He has something he needs to ask you."

"Why are you asking for him?"

The Gryffindor girl sighs. "My friends are hesitant when it comes to you."

Toph gave her a look. _Oh no, I know where this is going._ "Gryffindors are supposed to represent bravery and chivalry, and they don't have the nerve to confront me themselves? Wow, I'm impressed. How daring for them to eavesdrop. Actually, the most daring thing they and the rest of their house does is become so full of themselves. The house reeks of close-mindedness."

She could hear a pair of footsteps of a tall figure stomping their way up to her. Fists are clenched and every muscle on his face tight. Toph expected Hermione to resolve this, but to her surprise, it is the last person to show himself to her.

"Ron, stop," he says as soon as he catches up to his friend.

"Harry, she-"

"Ron," Harry snaps. "Just leave it. There's no good in starting a fight."

The Weasley shakes his head in disbelief, but thanks to Harry he manages to hold in every word and action he was about to say and do.

Harry turns to her. "You're one to talk about close-mindedness. Do you know what the Slytherins think of muggleborns?"

"I may be blind, but I'm far from deaf thank you very much. If you're talking about Hogwarts as a whole, each and every one of the houses reeks of close-mindedness."

"What do you mean?" This time it's Hermione.

Toph sighs. "You may think it's Slytherin against everyone else, but it's a bit more complicated. Although, Ravenclaw is a bit more open as a whole when it comes to muggleborns, if you listen and observe them closely as someone from either their own house or Slytherin, there are a good number of prejudice against muggleborns and everyone else not in their house. They don't see it themselves because they don't go as far as to think of harming or bullying them, but they think of themselves as superior nonetheless. They also believe none to be as intelligent as they are, except for maybe Hermione in our year."

"How do you know this?" Harry asks.

"I sit at the Ravenclaw table everyday."

"With who?"

"With Luna."

Toph could feel their eyes widen. _Does it really shock them?_

"Why?"

"Because I can."

"That's not answering our question," says Ron.

 _Obviously_ , she says in her head. "I'll answer all of your questions latter, Potter, I'm busy and recovering from lack of sleep. See you all later."

She left the trio to meet with Luna in the Great Hall.

* * *

"Focus on your breathing, keep under control," yelled Toph. "Through your nose!"

Toph runs a few feet ahead of Luna, who is trying her best to follow her teacher's instructions. The earthbender could tell that Luna is having difficulty keeping up with the pace that seemed easy to her. They've been running a little over thirty-five minutes at a pace that is a little faster than jogging, and Toph could see that they will have to stop. In all honesty, Toph didn't have too many expectations when it came to the girl's endurance. She was right to have low standards in this area, at the very least the girl was able to continue on at the same pace for fifteen minutes. However without Luna's knowledge, Toph increased the speed by a small, but significant margin and began the test. Toph expected the girl to continue for five minutes and quit, but even after ten she is still running right behind her.

Soon, another ten minutes have past and while Luna's breathing is a mess right now, the girl has yet to make any significant slow downs. Toph couldn't help but grin as her low expectations have been shredded into little insignificant pieces. She learned from Sokka and her first students that it is okay to hold expectations, and she is always thankful because nothing is as satisfying than having a student meet more than what had been expected. She is proud of Luna for doing so, but Toph knew that it is only about time before she needs to stop.

"Last minute!"

In the last minute of their run, Luna's speed increased to the point of Toph needing to run in order to catch up to the younger girl. When the earthbender called time, Luna collapsed onto the stone floor trying to catch her breath. If Toph had eyes, she would be staring at the girl trying not to believe what happened. Instead however she went to the sink, grabbed a cup, and turned the faucet to fill it up while thinking of Luna's last minute. She barely heard the girl's 'thank you' when she gave the water to her. Toph's hands balled up into fists, and she gritted her teeth.

When the earthbender arrived into this world of magic, wands, and ridiculousness, she was surprised to find that she had the ability to wave a stick and make things explode. Through the months of summer, she asked about the possibility of magic users being benders to the old Headmaster.

" _Kuzon tried to teach me many times in the past, but no matter how many times I tried to produce results it had all resulted in vain effort. It was the same with another wizard whom I once knew. He faced the same failures as I have."_

Toph only decided to 'teach' in order to put the wizards into shape. She only planned to teach them breathing and stances, and then tell them that it might not be possible for wizards. The earthbender wondered how is it that Luna is able to produce the results that two other wizards couldn't? What was different? But what upsets her is not the fact that the Old Man had been wrong (that actually excited her) nor the fact perhaps she could really teach people earthbending (again, she is very ecstatic).

"The thing that I did near the end of my run was…"

Toph nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's quite alright. You did say that there were different types of benders," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "You will still teach me, won't you?"

 _It will be pain in the ass, but..._ "We'll see."

"Shall we meet the same time tomorrow?"

"Let's wait. You need better clothes for training. Those robes won't work; we'll go to Hogsmeade to see if we can find anything," said Toph. "In the meantime, do some basic exercises. Five push ups, fifteen sit ups, ten squats, twenty high knees, and thirty jumping jacks is your assignment. I want three reps of these daily. Make sure you do ten minutes worth of breathing exercises and stretching afterwards. Understood?" She demonstrated each exercise for the girl.

"Yes, sifu."

"Now, copy what I do."

Toph began with reaching forward as far as possible and holding it for fifteen seconds, and then proceeded stand up to go to on straddle stance except her legs are now straight and are sliding farther apart from each other. Toph continued to observe Luna as they go from one stretch to the other. The girl is far from struggling; it's as if all of these movements and stretches are as easy as it is for Toph to smash rocks. The earthbender sighed as a memory of her first pupil popped into her head. _She's an airbender alright._

* * *

Toph spent the next few days thinking of Luna's training regime, and so far it has been a pain to think about. Coming up with body exercises is easy, but stuff like meditation and airbending what-not are not things she's well-versed. The only reference she has is Aang, but most of the time she focuses on improving his earthbending rather than observe his skills as an airbender. She knows how airbending people move and think, it's just trying to understand and then teach it to a complete novice is another matter entirely. It doesn't help that all the things that she should teach Luna are things she lacks passion for. Day and night she's thought upon this, and yet there is not even a pebble's worth of progress.

Toph has been so engrossed with Luna's lessons that she didn't remember slamming her forehead onto the table. Unfortunately, the surface happened to be made of stone. A shriek immediately followed the crash, and Toph snapped upright instantaneously.

A flood of curses filled her head as the earthbender examined the damage that's done. She let out a sigh when she felt the snapped wood right beneath the damaged top surface. It would have been a larger mess if it weren't for the wood. What an explanation she will have to make for the utter destruction of a piece of furniture.

"It seems someone has taken a delight to damaging one of my tables," said her Head of House with a clear and frightfully cold voice. Toph could sense his shoulders and tight fists trembling. "See me after class."

A few moments of complete silence later, the bell rang. It took a moment or two for them to slowly get up one by one. They filed out of the class stealing glances at the Slytherin girl and the professor before picking up their pace out the door. None dared to speak a word after the Potions Master spoke. Toph wished at least one laughed. The classroom is now left with two once again. Toph tried to plug her ears before the bomb went off, but she was too late.

"Fix your mess _NOW_!"

Toph flinched from the last word that sounded off like a crack of a whip. Curse her sensitive ears. She recovered quickly, however, and made the effort to listen to her professor.

She remembered that there is a spell for fixing things. The wand movement she remembered, but she is having troubling thinking of the word. _Fixipi? No. Mending? No. Repair? Close...ah!_ "Reparo." The incantation added with her movements allowed the table to be repaired as if nothing happened in the first place...

Or so she thought.

The wooden components of the table were definitely repaired, but she still felt the stone remnants on the floor. She didn't bother to wait for another snap from Snape to state the obvious.

"Can't fix it. Won't work."

"Your magic competency is worse than Potter's," he sneered. "Reparo." Nothing happened. "Reparo!" Snape continued a few more times in vain before giving up. He switched his focus to Toph, and the earthbender could feel the intense stare coming from the Potions Master.

"What in Merlin's name did you do?" It surprised Toph to hear...curiosity coming out of his mouth rather a storm of rage and fury. Not that there isn't a sprinkle of anger in there, (there is quite a lot, actually), but it didn't overpower this sense of awe and amazement.

"You're being a real creep, you know that?"

"Just answer the question," he snapped.

 _Oh there he is._ "I unconsciously earthbend when I slammed my forehead down, if it wasn't that obvious."

Snape shook his head in exasperation. "You really don't understand a thing, Beifong."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Care to explain?"

"The mending charm can fix almost anything that is not damaged by a powerful curse or the object being magically complex and powerful on its own," Snape explained and Toph understood. She understood why the professor took great notice of the irreparable table. She understood why her little accident didn't set him off completely (not including the moment before she said the mending charm).

"Damage done by benders is the same as damage done by rare and powerful magic."

Snape nodded. "It appears so."

Being the only official bender of the Wizarding World already gives an element of surprise on the battlefield, but now that can be classified as something not even the mending charm can deal with gives more value in her skills than just an element of surprise. It may appear something not to worth taking notice; many things cannot be repaired using the mending charm, but there is more danger and potential to benders. Toph knows now thanks to the Potions Master. Her heart rate increased, and a smile crept in.

"You know...this Dark Lord of yours is going to be hit in the most unexpected of places," said Toph.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Miss Beifong," Snape warned. "It will take more than that to defeat him."

"If he is as powerful as Ozai, then I will take your word for it." Before the Potions Master could sneer, she added, "And if he isn't, I will still trust your word."

Toph couldn't feel or see her Head-of-House's ghost of a smile.

* * *

The problem Toph needed to solve is to get ahold of appropriate training wear for Luna. Just as they planned, they went around Hogsmeade to businesses like Gladrags Wizardwear that sold robes. The earthbender hoped that they could make special robes out of thinner material, something that doesn't have sleeves and having it reach her calfs. The owner gave her a peculiar look, but he the employees made efforts to recreate those robes. Unfortunately, they were not fit for training as all. Toph could hear whispers behind her and the earthbender pinched the bridge of her nose.

Luna and Toph left with nothing to gain that day. Toph apologized knowing that the women in Gladrags were saying nasty things. Toph couldn't see the product, but apparently to many it didn't appear appropriate. She didn't think it was that bad since it was past Luna's knees. It wasn't like having no sleeves to cover one's arms is scandalous.

"It isn't," said Luna. "But those women were most likely raised in a very conservative household. That is usually the case for purebloods it seems."

"Are you a pureblood?" asked Toph out of curiosity.

"No, I had a paternal grandmother who was muggleborn. My mother has some muggleborn lineage, too, but not as much," she explained.

Toph asked Luna if they could also shop for her clothes next weekend as well.

"I must apologize, but I already have a prior appointment. It's very important you see."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"I'm afraid I have to keep it a secret for now," Luna apologized.

Toph couldn't help, but be curious about this secret appointment. But it's Luna's business and not hers. She also made no efforts to lie to her, actually, not once has the younger Ravenclaw lied to her. In addition, this girl is a lot sharper than what many others seem to think. _She can handle whatever this secret appointment is. She has to be at least a little stronger with the small exercises I am giving her in those heavy robes._ "Watch yourself, Luna."

"You need not worry. I will be in good company," she assured her in that dreamy voice.

Toph nodded. "Bending is first powered by emotions. Without proper training and breathing, that sort of power can be disastrous depending on the individual's talent and potential. I should have taught you this the very beginning, but I forgot you are still a newborn babe."

"I believe I can control my emotions," said Luna. "But maybe I express too much?"

"Nothing too extreme," said Toph. "The way you are now is just fine. But remember, no matter what happens keep any sort of extreme anger or negative feelings on check. Airbending is very spiritual-based, more so than the other elements. You need a clear and open mind.

Toph smiles. "But I know you already do. Have you heard of meditation?"

"I've heard of it, yes," said Luna. "But I've never tried it. I've always wanted to."

"I don't know how to meditate and even if I try, it'll just mess up my mojo. I do know that meditation requires you to lose focus of the things around you. Your breathing needs to be calm and steady, and your mind calm. Try meditating and focus on your breathing."

Luna nodded. "You say you don't know how to meditate, but you know know a lot, Toph."

"One of my former pupils practiced meditation."

"An airbender?"

Toph nodded.

"He can bend two elements?" she asked.

"He's a special kind of special," Toph said, and ended the topic at that. "While you go to your secret meeting, I"ll try going around to see if there is a place that sells training garments." Toph guessed that Luna is worried and curious as to how that will happen, but she didn't say anything besides a 'I look forward to seeing them.'

When the girls made their way back to Hogwarts, they parted ways to their respective Common rooms. Toph wondered where she will get Luna some new clothes that's fit for training. The earthbender sighed. The Wizarding World is honestly a ridiculous place for the only kind of clothes you can get are robes-just robes. Toph wonders if any of these people have abs. It didn't have to be much, just hope that there is something they're doing besides waving a stupid stick. Although, Toph admits that magic is a pretty cool thing. The good thing about them is that they are loose, but the garments are too long and Toph preferred to have her upper garments to be fitted nice and snug. In addition, training in loose robes isn't very ideal. Those blasts of air will make anything fly, including her robes.

One option would be to let the girl borrow her clothes. That didn't seem a bad idea until she asked Luna try on her clothes after dinner. They ended up being loose and not fitted for her lithe build. Toph supposed that made sense since she is taller and more muscular that Luna. She shouldn't have expected someone as thin and petite to be able to fit into her garments.

Toph let out an exasperated sigh. She wonders where she can even get such garments.

* * *

Toph didn't have much to do on Sunday. She turned her assignments in the morning through oral reports and Luna wanted to use her time to finished her homework and review for an upcoming test tomorrow. There are a million things she could be doing on this last day of the weekend, and an unknown force has compelled her to spend her day with her oh-so-beloved potions professor.

When she knocks and enters the dungeon classroom, the Professor sounded busy from the shuffling of parchment paper and the sounds of the quill on the paper. The professor didn't bother to look up and somehow know without looking that it was her.

"What did you do this time?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"I find that hard to believe."

Toph rolls her eyes. "Ha ha very funny."

She walks up to the front of the classroom to the table closest to the professor's desk. She sits on one of the chairs and lays her arms on top of the table's surface, using it as a pillow for her head. The earthbender sits there in silence, closing her eyes to hear the scratches of the quill the Potions Master makes when when grading papers and assignments. A faint smell of musky potions ingredients filled the room, along with hints of herb from the greenhouses.

One of her pupils back in the earthbending academy named Zhen took care of an array of plants in her family greenhouse. When she first met him the kid her first impression of him was of a quiet, peace-loving kid who hates conflict. She didn't think he would be able to handle the rigor and strictness of the academy, but to her surprise he turned to be one of her best students. He is a person who truly understands the meaning of patience and perseverance. It's so hard to hate him. Despite Zhen's strength and skill, he is one of the most sweetest and lovable characters that makes Toph almost want to hug him. Almost.

There are also a handful of surprising students in her academy. There are students who have talents that no one would have ever expected. There are students who start out as the worst and end up being in the upper ranks. There have been many ups and downs for the past few years since the school's founding, and she has found the job exhausting. It's exhausting, but so rewarding.

She trusts that nothing major happened to her academy once she gets back. Her first metalbending students have been given her trust. They are a unique trio and very different from who they used to be three years ago.

Speaking of being not who one used to be, Toph wonders if blood purity was as big of a deal if not even worse in the past. It seems that it has gotten better since there seems to be a large number of mixed blood, but the ones with great power in the Ministry are mostly pureblood families. There is so much tension and division. Nothing has changed in that aspect of the pureblood families feeling superior.

"I didn't expect you to stay here for more than an hour."

Toph lifted her head. The Professor seemed to be taking a break from grading and organizing papers. She smelled a new scent filling the room. A pleasant aroma of rosemary and lavender tea which is set on top of the Potions Master's desk. But there is a stronger scent, much closer to her than the professor's tea.

"I asked one of the house elves to give you tea since you didn't bother me this whole time."

The Slytherin girl took the saucer with one hand and lifted the tea cup with the other to sniff it. She took a sip of it, smiling once she's finished her first take of it. The house elves are getting better and better every time they make it. However, nothing compares to the tea Iroh makes.

"I can spare some time right now, what is it that you need," says the Professor.

"Nothing in particular."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Really, there isn't a reason. I didn't have anything to do and the next thing I know I'm walking to your classroom."

"What about your homework?"

"Finished and turned in after breakfast."

"What about bothering Miss Lovegood or Miss Granger?"

"Luna's studying, and I suspect Hermione to be doing the same. Besides, I still have some hours to spare before lunch and my evening workout."

She could hear the sigh coming from the professor. "Not everyone is as free as you are, Beifong."

Toph rolls her eyes. It's not her fault. Besides, she can only work out so much in one day between meals. The only thing that can be used for training are the clothes she was wearing when she first arrived. All the wizarding world has are robes, and only robes. She grumbles, "Why are they all the damn same?"

"What?"

"I'm trying to find a place that sells garments or robes more fitted to physical activity. I looked around yesterday, but all the materials were thicker than mine."

"You have the clothes you came with."

"That's not enough," she sighs. "I don't suppose you know a place that can make or sell the clothes I need. I'm getting tired of just seeing robes on their displays."

"Beifong, the only thing wizards and witches need are robes," he says as if it could not get any more obvious. "If you need something besides robes, go to the muggle stores."

Toph couldn't believe what her professor was suggesting. Did he really understand what he is saying. He knows she is from another world, right? The Potions Master didn't need the girl to voice her thoughts for it is written clearly on her face. His expression still has not changed.

"Miss Granger is a muggle-born."

It took five seconds of dead silence for it to click. "I forgot, but you know you can't really tell who is from a magical family and who isn't except for the brats."

"She is the best in her year," the Professor admits.

Toph nods. She finishes the rest of her tea and sets her teacup down.

"I can't be bothered with a teenage girl right now."

Toph shrugs. "Hermione's studying, my bad."

He shakes his head, not believing he has to deal with her for a couple more hours.

* * *

Author's Note:

It's been almost half a year since I updated. I apologize, and there is an explanation to everything.

I have always been inconsistent with writing whenever school starts, but there have been other factors as to why I can't be consistent. One of the other reasons was an injury that happened late February. It's fully healed since surgery, but I still need to work on strengthening. I was also having some hard time writing at the time, so that didn't help either. I also took an online class over the summer which basically packed a whole semester class in eight weeks. That's not a long time, and I just didn't have the time during that summer.

Since school has started up again and things are just going to get busy again, but I will work on writing a little bit when I feel like I can write well and have the time to do it.

Thank you for understanding and being patient with me.


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